


After Our End

by missberrycake



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: #and Suzie_Shooter’s ‘Uncharted Shores', #and then the very next thing you write is a gigantic One Direction fanfiction, #blame Derren Brown, #i couldn’t help it this plot possessed me, #let’s none of us mention it, #that fic is amazing, #the awkward moment when you say you’re never going to write a One Direction fanfiction again, Apocalypse, Derren Brown - Freeform, Don’t Worry The Band Doesn’t Split Up, End of the World, Grieving, Hurt/Comfort, Illusions, It’s Fake Though, It’s Sort of Like The Truman Show But With Zombies, M/M, Magic, OT5 Friendship, Reality TV, Survival, There’s Blood Folks, Zombie Fic But Not Really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2018-01-12 03:10:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1181208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missberrycake/pseuds/missberrycake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. Epictetus AD 55 – 135</i>
</p><p>‘Apocalypse’ unleashes Derren Brown’s most daring plan for a television show yet – to convince internationally renowned boy band One Direction that the country has been overcome by a cataclysmic asteroid strike, that deadly infected now walk the earth and that they are a few of the mere handful of survivors.</p><p>In which One Direction have a colossal, apocalyptic trick played on them. It brings their world to a temporary end. Literally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just to be clear, I have based this on Derren Brown’s ‘Apocalypse’ and a lot of the exposition is taken directly from the show. I’ve altered a few sections to fit my story, but I certainly didn’t create the experiment nor did I pen the original narration.

_If the world ended tomorrow, would you be happy with how you’ve lived your life? Would you have done yourself justice or would you have just let it pass you by? Throughout this programme I’m going to give the unsuspecting members of global sensation One Direction a second chance at life by creating the end of the world._

_Welcome to ‘Apocalypse’._

_ 13 Weeks to Apocalypse _

_Before deciding to create the apocalypse I needed to find the right candidates. I was drawn to the gentlemen of One Direction as their characters make them particularly suited to this project. They, that is Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, have been, unknowingly, independently assessed by a psychiatrist as being robust enough for what lies ahead. They’ve also been tested to check they’re suggestible, which allows me a measure of control over them if I ever feel that they’re reacting too adversely._

_I’m hoping they’ll be able to learn from the meticulously crafted experience I’m going to put them through and by taking everything away from them I hope to make them recognise the value of what they have._

~

“What are you doing?”

Harry jumped as Louis came up behind him. “Bloody hell, man,” he gasped. “Do you have to creep around like that?”

Louis raised his eyebrows, smirking, “Oh, why? Are you looking at porn? Is it the kinky stuff? Let me see.” Louis reached his hands over Harry’s shoulder to grab the laptop.

“No,” Harry laughed. “It’s not porn, you dirty fucker. I’m just arranging a flight to L.A. next week.”

Louis paused, still leaning over him. “Next week?” he asked. “Seriously, Harry? You can count the time we have left to the _worldwide_ tour in days and you’re going to America? Again?”

Harry shrugged, “I’m meeting some contacts –” Louis interrupted him to scoff. Harry turned to look at him, frown on his face, “ _I am_. Besides, I’m going to my mum’s after. I’ll see her then.”

Louis shrugged, walking away, “Okay, man. It’s your life.”

Harry turned back to the laptop. “It is,” he said, face set. “It is my life. I’ll do what I bloody well want.”

~

_ 7 Weeks to Apocalypse _

_With the help of their families, friends and colleagues my crew has installed hidden cameras in and around One Direction’s houses and workplace. In doing so I’ve found a book Liam owns called ‘How to be a Mind Magician’, which makes my heart go out to him. You get into magic, really, because you want to impress people and you only really want to impress people if you don’t feel impressive yourself. I know all this because, obviously, I’ve been there myself._

_These boys are incredibly successful in their field of work and have been presented with endless opportunities to become engulfed by, I guess, self-entitlement. When we take things for granted we forget to desire the things that we already have and that’s, really, what this is about. I’m going to go one step further with these guys by really taking away all that they have. To do this, I’ll make them believe that the world has ended but first they need to believe that the apocalypse is imminent and that a potentially catastrophic meteor shower is on a collision course with earth._

~

“I’m going to the gym!” Liam shouted up the stairs before heading towards the front door. He grimaced when he heard the stomp of feet rushing behind him.

“Liam, no,” his mother said. “The whole point of you coming back was so you could spend some time with your father.”

“I’ll spend some time with him when I get back tonight, mum,” he muttered, grabbing his jacket and keys. “He’ll still be here. I have to put the hours in, or I’ll get out of shape.”

His mother pursed her lips, “Some things, Liam Payne, are more important than how ‘in shape’ you are.”

Liam rolled his eyes, pushing down the wave of guilt that washed through him at her words. “Whatever. I’ll be back in time for dinner. What are we having?” he half shouted, opening the front door and unlocking his car.

He heard his mother’s raised voice come from the hallway, “We’re having whatever I’m serving and you’ll be glad of it!”

Parents, he thought, they never change.

~

_ 5 Weeks to Apocalypse _

_The first stage is to hack into all their internet devices so that I can place fake news stories on websites that they use. Their Hair-Stylist, Lou Teasdale, has volunteered to sneak into their dressing room to steal their phones and iPads while they’re being interviewed. I now need to take these through to David, who is our hacker. He’ll work his magic so I’m able to make my own made up news items appear to be on legitimate websites that the boys use._

_I can now start to introduce the idea that the world could end and to do that I’m going to create a meteor strike that could wipe out civilisation._

~

Niall slumped down on the large sofa in their dressing room as the other lads all started to pull off their suit jackets and ties. He never understood why they all rushed to get changed again after television performances, they always had to wait around for ages afterwards for their cars to arrive anyway.

He kicked his shoes off and picked up his iPad from the coffee table, sparing a glance at Louis who was having to be helped out of this jacket by Liam. He smirked when he spied Harry, still tanned from his week in the States, glaring at Liam from the corner.

After browsing through a few boring pages he opened up the NASA website. He visited the site fairly often, not wholly willing to part with his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. The top story displayed the rather dramatic headline ‘2014: The End of the World?’ Niall bent his head closer to the screen as he tapped into the story. He had just enough time to take in a picture of a blazing chunk of rock heading towards earth before he was interrupted.

“C’mon Nialler, we’re off.”

He looked up to find everyone staring at him expectantly, all changed with their bags on their shoulders. He jumped up, grabbing his stuff, “Shit, I’m not ready.”

Louis threw a jumper at him, “Nobody cares. Move it, you can change in the car if you have to.”

He stuffed his iPad into his bag and grabbed his hat as he followed the group out of the dressing room and down the long corridor of the BBC studios. He smiled slightly to himself as he thought, really, if 2014 was the year the world ended, he’d achieved quite enough to be getting on with.

~

_ 2 Weeks to Apocalypse _

_It’s important that whatever information I feed to the boys is credible so I’ve arranged to meet physicist Professor Brian Cox to persuade him to take part in my plan. With Brian on board I’ve organised for him to be a guest on a specially recorded edition of Channel 4’s ‘Sunday Brunch’. Using our technology, this segment will be shown only on the TVs in One Direction’s homes and will be used to feed them their first lie, that the very real phenomenon of the Perseid shower is masking a larger, more dangerous set of meteors that could be heading for earth._

_I’m also going to place a fake tweet on some of their twitter timelines. I’m going to tweet as Stephen Fry, who Harry, Liam and Zayn follow, so it will look like Stephen has tweeted about the asteroids._

~

Harry frowned at the cards in his hand, deep in thought. After a few moments he cleared his throat and said magnanimously, “I think I’m ready to make a guess.”

Gemma raised her eyebrows from where she sat cross legged near the other side of the board. “If you feel that’s best,” she said, nodding sagely.

Harry took a deep breath and picked up the black envelope from the middle of the Cluedo board. He pointed at his mother, “It was Mrs White, in the library with the dagger.” Anne and Gemma exchanged a smile as Harry opened the envelope. He let out a sigh, “Oh.”

“No luck? Shocking,” Gemma said. “Alright, my go.” She snatched the envelope out of Harry’s hand, “Mrs White, in the library with the candlestick.”

“No,” Harry groaned.

“Oh yes.” She smiled as she opened the envelope, “Well, would you look at that.” She dropped the three cards onto the board and Harry glared down at the small drawing of a candlestick, “Looks like I get to retain my Cluedo crown after all.”

Anne smiled gently at the two of them before standing up and straightening her dress. “Okay. Time to start lunch, I think,” she said before leaving the room.

Harry grumbled and flicked on the television as Gemma packed the game away. He’d been back at his mum’s since yesterday to take a break before the One Direction tour started up again, although he was already growing restless. He flicked through several channels before settling on an interview with Brian Cox. “Hey Gem, your boyfriend’s on the telly again.”

“Shut up,” she said, shooting him a sideways glare.

He smirked and turned his attention to the interview where Brian Cox was answering a question in his soft voice, “We’re also just coming into the Perseid meteor shower, which happens every year in early August. We’ve found that there’s actually another clump of material, which we didn’t know about that looks like it’s got some larger pieces of rock there, so we will see a secondary shower, which we don’t normally get. The question is going to be how big they are and whether they’ll burn up in the atmosphere or whether they’ll actually land or not.”

“Any virus issues?” the interviewer asked.

Harry pulled a face at the screen, “’Virus issues’? Why on earth would there be virus issues?”

He rolled his eyes as Gemma murmured, “You don’t know. Could be intergalactic germs or something.”

The professor replied, “Actually, many scientists are speculating that there’s bacteria living on some pieces of these rocks.”

The interviewer leant forward, “In theory, could we all be wiped out?”

“Oh, give me a break,” Harry laughed. Gemma shushed him.

Brian Cox smiled, “In theory, yes, but –”

Harry scoffed, blocking out the rest of the interview and instead pulled his phone out of his pocket to see if Louis had texted him back yet. Looking down at the empty screen he huffed out a breath, a pang of jealousy swelling in his chest as he thought of what Louis was getting up to without him. He knew it was ridiculous but ever since he’d met Louis all those years ago he hated being apart from him. He missed the others as well but there was just something about him and Louis. He was special.

He ran his thumb over his lip and stared at his phone a while longer before giving up and opening up his twitter feed. He scrolled down his timeline aimlessly until he saw a tweet that made him raise his eyebrows.

 

“Huh, Stephen Fry’s been tweeting about that meteor thing as well,” he said, turning to Gemma. “Maybe there’s something to it, Fry is the fount of all human knowledge. Might need to stock up on the tinned soup,” he joked.

Gemma glanced over to him, “Careless talk cost lives, Harry.”

He grinned at her as his phone buzzed. When he looked down he saw that it was a message Louis and tried his hardest not to feel too relieved.

~

_ 1 Week to Apocalypse _

_It seems the members of One Direction are finally beginning to absorb the information I’ve been feeding them._

_The end of the world is rapidly approaching for One Direction. Now they need evidence that the rogue meteors are coming close enough to earth to start causing problems. I’ve arranged for a fake radio broadcast from one of Zayn’s favourite DJ’s, Scott Mills._

~

Zayn turned up the volume of his car radio as he headed on to the M6. He’d picked Liam up on his way down back to London for their final tour rehearsal and, even as they cruised down the motorway, he could feel himself tiring.

“This is going to be a hell of a long tour this time, don’t you think?” he turned to Liam in the passenger seat.

Liam nodded, “Yeah. They always feel quite long to me though, until they’re over.” He looked over to Zayn with a smile, “Then I want them to start over again.”

Zayn hummed in agreement as he took his foot off the accelerator, spying break lights ahead. He sighed, “Brilliant. This is why I hate driving on busy roads, you have to be alert all the time but you hardly move at all.”

Liam lowered his window, letting in the early summer breeze as they slowed to a crawling pace, “I can take over at the next services, if you want. You know, since you picked me up.”

A smile reached Zayn’s lips, “Nah mate, I didn’t mean that. I’m alright, you’ll just have the responsibility of keeping me entertained, yeah?” He looked over to see Liam pulling a face at him and laughed.

In the silence that followed Zayn started to listen to the conversation on the radio. They seemed to be discussing the meteor shower that Harry was telling him about the other day. He listened as Scott Mills reported, clearly amused, that “The civil aviation authority is seriously saying that they won’t be able to communicate with planes if this carries on. There’s some disturbances and stuff with air traffic control”.

Zayn sent a curious look towards Liam when the other man suddenly changed the channel. Liam shrugged at him, “It’s been on the news a fair bit. Kinda spooks me a little, all that ‘Deep Impact’ stuff.”

“You don’t think it’s actually serious?” he asked.

“I dunno, I’m not a rocket scientist am I? I just don’t see the point of talking about it, it’s just fear mongering, isn’t it? Like with that chicken flu.”

Zayn frowned, “You mean Swine Flu?”

“I thought it was birds?” Liam murmured, distractedly. “Never mind, we’re moving again.”

As he moved off at a slow pace Zayn shook his head and smiled to himself. ‘Deep Impact’. Liam really was quite funny sometimes.

~

_ 2 Days to Apocalypse _

_Following the radio broadcast about unexpected disturbances, I’ve decided to create some of my own. One Direction and their tour crew are beginning to encounter problems with the television and their phones._

~

Louis groaned in despair, pressing hard on the television remote buttons at random, “Seriously, man. What’s going on? This is, like, the sixth time this has happened to me this week.” He threw the remote next to where Zayn was lounging on the sofa.

Zayn picked it up and placed it on the small table by the side of him. “It’s not the end of the world, Louis,” he said quietly.

Louis huffed and dropped down into the space next to him. They were all gathered together to run through their costumes for the European leg of the tour. Louis cringed at the thought of the word costume. No matter how many times he was told it was the professional terminology, it always conjured up images of Liberace. He sighed, “’Spose not. Bloody annoying, though. I just wanted to watch the England friendly, that’s all.”

“We’ll just lose anyway, we always lose.”

Louis shoved Zayn’s shoulder, “That’s not the right attitude! Fighting talk, Zee. We need you on side.”

Zayn smiled at him, “’We’?”

“Me and the Team,” Louis said.

“Whatever,” Zayn replied, laughing. Louis grinned. He always enjoyed making Zayn smile, no matter how small a smile it was. It wasn’t quite as good as the times he made Harry laugh, with his dimples on full display, but it was almost up there.

At that point the door swung open and Harry and Liam walked through with their Stylist. She smiled at them all, “I’ve got some great choices for you all today. I’ll be five more minutes, I promise, we’re just having some difficulties with the lifts. I’ve roped in Ian and Alexander to bring most of the options up the stairs instead.”

Harry walked over to where Louis and Zayn were sitting and nudged Louis until he made space for him. Louis eyed him warily, “You alright?”

“Hmm?” Harry looked up from his mobile, “Oh, yeah. It’s just my phone’s on the blink. It’s weird, it’s been doing that all day and the lifts are all caput.”

Louis clicked his tongue, “Telly’s gone as well.”

Niall spoke up from his position, sat cross-legged on the floor, fiddling with his iPad, “It’s that meteor shower, Percy-something. It’s cocking everything up.”

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Liam said as he sat down next to Niall and started to carefully peel an orange he’d picked up from the buffet. “That all this computer stuff is breaking down. Really shows how much we rely on it all.”

Louis leaned closer to Harry, “Yeah, it’s hilarious Li. It’s so funny that I forgot to laugh.” He felt Harry’s chest vibrate at his side as the other man laughed.

“’So funny I forgot to laugh’? Really Louis? Not your best work,” Harry said, smirk plastered across his face.

“Shut up,” he replied. “I’m suffering withdrawal. I’m a product of my generation.”

~

_ 1 Day to Apocalypse _

_The next day the boys prepare to start the first leg of their European Tour. Unknown to them we’ve enlisted Paul Higgins, their Tour Manager, to secretly take out the fuse to the tour bus’ starter motor. He’ll call a mechanic, whom I have briefed. He’s been prepped to say that the problem with the engine is caused by the meteors._

~

Liam re-read the tour schedule for probably the eighth time, “I still don’t get it. Why do we have the first show tonight and then a week’s gap? It’s at the same venue, it just seems so pointless.” When he didn’t receive an answer from anyone he looked up.

They were all hanging around outside the tour bus with their luggage spread out around them. Harry, Louis and Niall were sat in a row on the ground, leaning against a fence. A smile spread across Liam’s face as he took in the site. The three of them were all fast asleep, eyes closed and faces lax. After he’d rolled his eyes and snapped a picture he spotted Zayn jogging over to them. “Well, well, well,” he said, arms folded and eyebrows raised. “Look who decided to grace us with his presence,”

Zayn pouted and glanced at the three asleep on the floor, “Doesn’t look like I missed much. Anyway, you have to be nice to me, it’s early. That’s the deal, right? You’re nice to me in the morning.”

He chuckled at the disgruntled expression on Zayn’s face and sat down on top of his suitcase. “You’re right, that was the agreement.”

As Zayn dumped his bag on the floor he looked around, “Why are we not on the bus yet? Surely all the bags should’ve been loaded by now?”

“Search me.”

They waited for a while longer, Niall and Louis waking up with matching unhappy groans, until Paul walked over to them. “Sorry lads, there’s been a bit of a situation with the bus.” As they all started to complain in unison Paul held up his hands, “Alright, alright. I know it’s annoying. Look, we’ve got a mechanic who’s going to be here in five minutes, then we can get it sorted. I don’t want any sass about this.”

Paul strolled off behind the bus as Louis stood up to stretch, “Sass? Cheeky beggar.” Louis turned to Liam, “Do you reckon this is that meteor stuff as well? Like with the telly?”

Liam shrugged, “Could be. It’s supposed to be soon, isn’t it? When it strikes?”

“Whatever,” came a low mumble from beside him. Liam looked over to see Harry stand up next to Louis, dusting off his trousers as he went. “Let’s just get the bags loaded so we’re ready for when the bus goes.”

By the time the mechanic arrived they were all anxious to get on the road. They all watched as he fiddled around with the engine. Paul was nodding along agreeably as the man recounted his busy week. It seemed Louis had been right about the breakdown having to do with the asteroids, as the mechanic described all the vehicles he’d had to sort out because of it. Liam couldn’t really explain why, even to himself, but all the talk recently about this meteor shower was making him nervous. He’d never seen anyone make such a fuss out of anything like this before and he was worried that there was a real threat. He wouldn’t say any of this to the other guys, though. He smiled to himself at the idea of confiding his worries about a meteor hitting earth to them. He’d be laughed out of town.

Liam was shocked out of his thoughts by the sound of the bus engine spluttering to life. The rest of the band and all the crew cheered around him and immediately people started to clamber aboard the fleet of vehicles that had been waiting.

He let out a small smile as Niall winked over to him, boarding the bus. It was just nerves, he thought, for the first night of the new tour. The meteor would break up in the atmosphere. Nothing was actually going to happen.

~

_It looks as if the drip feeding of information to the five lads about the impending meteor strike is finally paying off. They’re beginning to believe that it really is possible._

_So with the One Direction boys now fully prepared, the time has finally come for the apocalypse._

_ The Day the World Ends _

_One Direction will be travelling on their tour bus, which we have rigged with hidden cameras. They have no idea I’m on board or that all their fellow passengers and crew have been carefully briefed. They are, unknowingly, on their way to a thousand acre former nuclear weapons site we’ve rigged with over sixty hidden cameras, one hundred and fifty microphones and two thousand metres of cable. A cast and crew of over two hundred and fifty people have devoted thousands of hours in preparation and execution of this project. It is vital that Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn have no idea they’re being filmed._

~

Harry yawned loudly, reaching his arms up, over his head. They'd done their first tour show last night and everyone had left the stadium buzzing. He was born for it, performing, he could feel it. Every time he stepped out in front of a crowd it suddenly became easy. No awkward questions, no glaring handlers, no uncertainty; just the stage. 

They were now on their way to a secondary photo shoot. Harry had doubted the logic of booking a shoot immediately after their first performance but decided against questioning Paul's scheduling skills. As he squinted at the window, trying to see something in the pitch black night beyond, he wondered where on earth they were heading to.

"Zayn?" he asked to the quiet bus. Apart from the low conversation going on between Louis and Liam, they'd all fallen into a tired silence, the radio playing dimly in the background. 

"Yeah?" Zayn responded, eyes remaining closed. 

"Where is it Paul said we're going?"

He huffed when Zayn simply shrugged and said, "I go wherever he takes me, mate."

The journey rolled on and Harry ended up passing the time playing a silent game of hangman with Louis. Their stifled laughter occasionally echoed throughout the cabin. As Harry tangled their legs together under the small table Louis simply smiled, eyes twinkling up at him and he squeezed Harry's calf between his own. 

It was several hours into the ride when the bus juddered to a halt.

Louis shifted opposite him, face pressed against the window, "Oh, what's going on now?" 

Niall jerked awake on the other side of the cabin. "What's happening? Why have we stopped?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't know. Probably something on the road," Liam said, looking down the aisle.

At that point the voice of their driver came on over the radio, interrupting the weather report that had been playing. "Sorry everyone. We're having engine trouble again, I think. Shouldn't be too long."

Harry watched as Louis groaned dramatically, slumping back into his chair and Zayn rolled his eyes, pulling his headphones over his ears once more.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in Harry's stomach as he leant back against the headrest. The darkness outside the bus felt like it was closing in on him. Visions of them getting lost in the countryside, driving for hours, filled his head. 

"Don't think so much, Harry," Louis said, smiling at him across the table. "You'll give yourself -"

A deafening crash filled Harry's ears, shaking the cabin around them. He felt it in his bones. He flinched back from the window, heart pounding in his chest, as a bright flash of light filled the sky, illuminating the track road they'd stopped on. 

He looked over to see Louis gripping his armrest while Niall's eyes darted nervously around the bus.

"What the hell was that?" Zayn asked, eyes wide.

Liam's face was pale as he whispered, "The meteors? Did they actually hit?"

Louis looked dubious, "They can't have. That's ridiculous."

They were all looking at each other, dumbstruck, when a report came on over the radio. "We're interrupting this programme to bring you a special news announcement. A statement from the Government has been released saying that a meteorite collision with earth is imminent." 

Harry sent a panicked look towards Louis who shook his head silently from his seat. This has got to be a wind-up, he thought, even as he listened to a female voice come on over the speakers. In over-enunciated English she said, "This is a statement from Cabinet Room Office A for the attention of all citizens of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A meteor, Swift A, is predicted to collide with the British Isles imminently."

Niall brought his legs to his chest, biting his nails, "Oh my God. Oh my God."

Zayn grabbed his hands, listening intently, "Shush, Niall, I can't hear her."

The disembodied voice continued, "A short while ago Parliament declared an official state of level three emergency. The overwhelming likelihood is that communication networks will be severely disrupted, if not destroyed. In this event police services will be supported by the armed forces to ensure civil order is maintained in major cities and areas of dense population."

Another burst of light exploded next to Harry and Louis' window, shaking the bus violently from side to side. Harry sat in shock as Louis yelled and pulled him fiercely by the arm, dragging him to where Liam, Zayn and Niall were crowded.

As explosion after explosion filled the night sky outside Harry clung on to Louis' arm tightly. The bus rattled around them and Harry looked over to see Zayn's arm wrapped over Niall, whose head was bowed between his knees. His brain was working slowly, struggling to comprehend what exactly was happening around them, he just knew he needed to stay close to the others. All of them were silent under the immense noise of the meteor strike. 

Harry briefly made eye contact with Liam. "Can you hear that?" Liam asked, voice shaky.

"What?" Harry croaked in reply.

Liam looked at him, eyes widening as he said, "The screaming." 

Shivers ran up Harry's spine as he listened carefully, trying his hardest to block out the falling debris. As soon as he heard it he couldn't believe he'd ever missed it. As clear as day, there were people screaming out there. "Oh Christ," he said, breathlessly.

Zayn looked out of the window, squinting, "What the hell are they doing outside? Should we go and help?"

Louis moaned lowly next to him, his face lit up by the flames, "Jesus. There's a kid over there."

Just as Harry began to figure out what route they could take to get to the people outside, the bus gave a particularly violent shake, causing the internal lights to go out and plunging them into darkness. Before Harry had a chance to yell, he felt himself losing consciousness. 


	2. Chapter 2

_Welcome back to ‘Apocalypse’. The members of One Direction are about to undergo a dramatic and truly transformative series of events through an end of world experience that’s been crafted especially for them._

_In this new, post-apocalyptic world One Direction will encounter situations specifically created to bring out the best in them. Through these they’ll learn about bravery, making decisions and compassion. That’s courage, a brain and a heart. What you’re about to witness will sometimes appear extreme but I can assure you that during this entire process our concern for the boy’s welfare is paramount. They’ve been vetted by an independent psychiatrist as being robust and mentally stable and will be monitored at all times by an on-site psychiatrist and medical professionals to ensure their physical, mental and emotional well-being are always intact._

~

Liam scrunched his eyes up against the sudden light shining down on him. He pulled the duvet up over his shoulder from where it had fallen down while he was asleep and buried his face deeper into the pillow.

A regular mechanical beeping echoed in his ears, filling his head. “Ugh,” he growled to himself. “Bloody alarm.” He opened his eyes and blinked as light flooded his vision.

He frowned for a second as the room around him swam into focus. He had thought he was on the tour bus still but the room he’d woken up in was unfamiliar.

Then he remembered. The screaming. The flames. The end of the world.

“Oh,” he gasped, as memories of the night before ran through his mind. His heart thudded in his chest when he looked around the room and realised the others weren’t there with him.

He was all alone.

With a sudden burst of energy he jumped up from the bed, starting as he realised he was in a hospital room. When he tried to walk towards the door he felt himself be pulled back at his arm. Turning around, he found that he had a sleeve wrapped around his bicep, which was attached by a long tube to the beeping machine by the wall. He stared for a moment before tearing the sleeve off, the sound of the Velcro ripping loud in the quiet surrounding him. Jesus, he thought, what was going on? He blinked around the room, taking in the small radio spewing out static in the corner, the tanks of oxygen stacked next to the bed and the bio-hazard tap lining the window. He took several deep breaths to try and keep himself from losing his nerve.

He just needed to find the others. The medical equipment was probably nothing. As he scrambled around the bed, looking for his apparently discarded shirt, he began to panic.

They’d be in another room down the hall, that was all. _They had to be._

He worried his lip as he eyed the door across from him, pulling on the trainers he’d discovered by the table. He walked over slowly, reaching out a careful hand to take hold of the handle, scowling at the keys left in the lock. He paused and pressed his ear up against the wooden panel of the door, listening intently for movement on the other side. After he was satisfied nothing was going to jump out at him, he silently turned the keys and pulled the door open.

The scene that welcomed him was one of catastrophe. He grimaced, making his way down the corridor, slowly navigating the obstacle course of beds, chairs and medical papers that had been strewn along the floor. His heart plummeted. It was clear that whoever was here had left in a hurry. He clenched his hands into balls as he continued to walk, one step at a time, to the end of the corridor. He could see a door ahead of him, slightly a jar with shadows flickering against the wall.

He pushed the door open, willing his heart to stop beating so loudly, scared it would attract attention. The shadows, it was revealed, were being made by the light from a television mounted on the wall. Indiscernible images flicked across the screen for a few seconds at a time before being lost again.

“Guys?” he whispered, almost undetectably. “Anybody there? Louis?” He was met with silence. 

He jumped as he heard a voice behind him. “Be smart. Be safe.”

He spun on the spot, the knot in his stomach loosening as he saw that the television had found a signal again. A women in military uniform was sat behind a desk, gazing gravely into the lens. “… final broadcast of British Armed Forces. It has now been fourteen days since a number of meteors hit the earth.”

Oh God, Liam thought. He was frozen to the spot, staring up at the woman as she continued to speak, her voice comfortingly level. “We are aware of reports of an unknown virus currently effecting a growing number of survivors at an alarming rate. It is thought the incubation period for humans can be up to three days, although shorter infection cycles have been reported. Be advised to burn all dead. Humans and animals.”

 _Burn all dead._  He needed to find the others. Now.

“It is noted that once infected, individuals cannot be reasoned with. If you believe someone to be infected, do not approach them. Infection is believed to spread through close proximity. Do not …”

He blinked as the signal was lost again. “Oh my God,” he mumbled, voice trembling. “Where are you?”

~

Zayn jerked awake, the sound of explosions still ringing in his ears. He stared up at the ceiling, not daring to move. Was he alive? He hoped he was alive. He felt like he was alive.

“Um, Zayn?”

He turned his head towards the voice, bringing a dirty-faced Niall into his line of vision. Huh. Definitely alive then. Zayn grunted and pushed himself up from where he’d been lying. Looking around in the ugly fluorescent light he saw that he and Niall were in the back of an ambulance. He immediately looked over to his friend, checking for injuries. When he was satisfied that Niall wasn’t on the brink of sudden death he turned to the front cabin, hoping to find a paramedic to explain to him what the hell had happened last night, but there was nobody there.

He scowled, swinging his legs over the edge of the gurney he’d been lying on and rubbing his head. As he brought his hand up near his face he saw that he had a blue medical tag wrapped around his wrist. He stared at it for a while before giving up and turning to Niall. “What the fuck?” he asked, succinctly.

Niall, who’d been waiting patiently for Zayn to get his bearings, leant forward in his seat, “I don’t know.” He looked over to Zayn, bashfully, “I’ve been too nervous to look outside, I was waiting for you to wake up.” Zayn nodded to the floor. Niall coughed, “Are you feeling alright? I don’t really know what the ambulance is about. You’re not hurt, right?”

Zayn looked down at himself. He wasn’t in pain anywhere. He tentatively stood up and, when it was established that all his limbs were working correctly, he sent cautious jazz hands in Niall’s direction, “I think I’m good. Where are the others? Where’s all the crew?”

“I don’t know,” Niall said again, looking more and more agitated by the minute. “I tried calling them but the network’s down. The last thing I remember is being on the tour bus. Then all the asteroids and that happened.”

Zayn dropped his head into his hands, thinking, “They’re probably waiting for us somewhere. Maybe the ambulance just broke down?” Niall gave him a dubious look. “Whatever, man. We should just sit tight, someone will come back for us.”

He stared at Niall’s feet as the other man paced the small floor of the ambulance nervously, grinding his teeth. After several tense moments Niall’s feet came to a stop directly in front of Zayn. Niall’s blue eyes flickered across Zayn’s face, “We should go outside, find out what happened. There might be clues. We could be right next to the tour bus still, you never know.”

“Clues? This isn’t ‘Jonathan Creek’, Niall. We’re not going to go out there and solve some great mystery.”

Niall shrugged, “We can’t just sit around.”

Zayn frowned, ‘sitting around’? Is that what Niall thought he was doing? He wasn’t going to let anybody think he was a coward. “Fine,” he huffed. “I’ll go check it out.”

Niall rolled his eyes as Zayn shuffled past him, reaching for the ambulance door. He stepped out into the open air and, at first glance relief washed over him. The far reaching fields the ambulance had stopped in were rich green, with no destruction in site. No fire, no screaming bodies. With a vague sinking of his heart Zayn noted that there was no tour bus, either.

He was about to shout to Niall when he stopped short. In the corner of his eye he saw something. He’d missed it before, but hiding in the tree line were people. Yes, they were definitely people. Zayn felt uneasy though, as he squinted towards them. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but something about their movements wasn’t right.

“Niall? Come look,” he whispered over his shoulder. Niall scrambled outside, gaze following where Zayn was pointing. Several individuals were slowly making their way closer to the ambulance and Zayn and Niall could take in more of their appearance.

They both noticed it at the same time, the bloody clothes, the greying skin, the dead eyes.

They weren’t human.

 “Alright?” Niall shouted towards a small group closest to them.

Zayn whispered frantically, “Niall, be quiet.”

The group didn’t take any notice, though. One of them let out a guttural moan, dark, thick blood spilling from his mouth.

Zayn kept a firm grip on the ambulance door, not moving his head. He didn’t know what to do. He had absolutely no idea what was happened and now Niall was looking at him, as if he was going to save the day. “Christ,” he mumbled under his breath. He signalled for them to head back inside and, closing the door again, he cringed as the loud click of the lock sounded in the quiet.

He bit his lip, “Niall, I don’t – What are they? What the fuck is happening here? Where is everyone?” He moaned desperately, leaning his head into the wall of the ambulance, silently begging for this to be some sort of nightmare.

He felt Niall’s hand come up to rest on his shoulder. “It’s okay,” Niall said gently. “We’re okay in here, aren’t we? We just don’t go near them.”

Zayn looked over his shoulder, “But what are they?”

Niall blinked at him, “I don’t know.” He gave a small smile, “Phrase of the day.” When Zayn simply stared back at him, he sighed, “Maybe they’re ill or –”

“Infected?” Zayn offered.

They stared at each other for a moment. “Look,” Niall said. “We need to find the others. We get them, we find out what the hell is happening, we get out. No worries, yeah?”

The unspoken question hung between them. What if they found the others and they were infected too? Zayn was overwhelmed by fear for a brief second as he thought about his family back home. He shook his head, pushing the thought aside.

He nodded, “Alright.” Eyeing the ambulance door once more he said, “I don’t really fancy going back out there, though.”

Niall smiled at him, showing off his teeth, “Zayn. Come on, buddy. Think about where we are.” He spread his arms out, as if it were obvious. “We’ll drive! Key’s in the ignition, I checked.”

They clambered into the front, Niall slipping into the driver’s seat. He let out an unsure chuckle as he started the engine. Zayn wrapped his hand around the handle above his head. He tried to sound confident as he asked, “So, you reckon you can drive this thing alright? We don’t even know where we’re going.”

“Sure, it’ll be a cinch. And we’ll just follow the road, it’s got to lead somewhere.” Niall turned to him, “Easy as.” Zayn nodded, feeling better now they were on the move. At least he had Niall with him. The other boy took everything so in his stride that Zayn often got the feeling nothing really bad could happen to you, if you just had Niall around.

The sound of the ambulance engine seemed to have attracted the people outside, who were now walking towards their vehicle with interest. Niall accelerated through the gathering crowd.

“Don’t hit them! You might hurt someone,” Zayn exclaimed, as Niall swerved around a group of whatever they were. Blimey, Zayn thought, what were they even called? He couldn’t call them zombies. That was too far. Infected, he’d go with infected.

“Dude,” Niall said. “I was miles away. ‘Sides, they’re not exactly going to feel it, are they?”

Zayn shoved him, “You don’t know that. It might be temporary, or there might be a cure. You shouldn’t hurt them, they’re still people.”

“Yeah alright, Saint Malik,” Niall murmured, although he took more care driving from then on.

~

Back in the deserted hospital Liam was shaken out of his reverie by the loud slamming of a door down the corridor. He turned to stare back along the passageway, inexplicable fear spreading through him. It took all of his resolve to step forward and investigate.

“Hello?” he croaked, voice next to nothing.

As he approached the abandoned reception he froze when he saw the swivel chair behind it sliding across the floor. He slowly bent down, not taking his eyes off the desk, and picked up a discarded chair to use as a weapon.

“H – Hey! Come out. Come out and –” his voice cracked as he wavered on the spot.

He almost sobbed in relief and dropped the chair in an instant as he saw Harry peak out from behind the desk, fingers shaking at his lip.

“Liam!” Harry breathed, immediately relaxing. “Shit, you scared the crap out of me. Where the hell have you been?” he said as he ran towards Liam, engulfing him in a fierce embrace. “Where the hell have you been?” he repeated, his voice rough. “I thought it was just me. I thought – Fuck.” He buried his head into Liam’s neck, squeezing him a little tighter.

“Harry,” Liam gasped. “Oh God, I’m so glad to see you. Aren’t the others with you?” He held Harry at arm’s length, giving him the once over. He tried to maintain a poker face as he took in Harry’s ripped and blood-stained top and the dried blood caked on his face. He wondered what he looked like himself.

Harry shook his head, “I thought they’d be with you.” Liam watched as Harry pushed his hair away from his face. “Liam, man, what is going on? I mean, I woke up and there was this whole section quarantined off and –” He cut himself off, looking helplessly over to Liam.

Liam grabbed his hand and they both looked down to find they were wearing matching blue wristbands. Harry whispered, “I saw a poster, back there. It said that blue bands meant you were safe and red bands meant you were infected.” He looked up, “Infected with what?”

Liam felt like he’d been submerged in water, his thoughts were thick and slow. Meteors. Viruses. Infected. _Burn all dead_. He surfaced. “It’s the meteors,” he said. “They hit us and brought something with them. We should – We’re fine. We’re blue, right? We get the others and we get home.”

He pulled Harry along, following the exit signs. After several minutes of walking down corridor after corridor, all of which looked just as deserted as the last, they reached a dead end with one door ahead of them. The harsh lights above them flickered ominously.

Harry groaned, “Why does it have to be so creepy?”

Instead of answering, Liam opted to inspect the door ahead. He leant down, pressing his face against the glass pane and brought his hands up to block out the reflection. His heart sored as he saw an emergency exit, glowing green, across the floor. “The exit, Harry, I can see it!” He was about to pull the door open when he felt Harry’s hand wrap around his wrist. He turned, “What?”

Harry nodded, wide-eyed, at a sign to the right of the door.

DANGER: CONTAMINATION AREA

The angry, red writing stood out on the wall. Liam’s resolve waned. He looked to Harry, he looked back down the corridor they’d just come from and he looked towards the exit again. He bit his lip, “It doesn’t look like anybody’s in there now?”

“If there’s no other way out, we don’t have much choice, do we?” Harry sighed, seemingly accepting defeat.

Liam stepped forward, turning the stiff door handle, with Harry close behind him. He muttered quietly as the door swung open revealing the dark and cold space beyond, “This is so ridiculous. So ridiculous.”

The two of them walked on, red tags crunching under their feet where they were scattered on the floor. They took baby steps towards the exit door, eyes darting around in the dark. By the time they were about half way across the room, Liam’s heart was pounding in this throat. His eyes were focused on the door so he didn’t immediately notice when Harry stopped, until he felt the cold reach his side.

“Harry,” he whispered sternly. “What are you – Harry, come _on_.” He followed where Harry had wondered to the side of the room, “We can’t hang around here –” He stopped short when he saw what Harry was looking at.

They were in front of a window, looking into what was, really, a cell. A man was standing stock still in the middle of the dim room, facing away from them.

Harry turned his head to look Liam in the eye. “Red band,” he said, simply, pointing.

Liam let out a shaky breath. Well, that was it then, this was actually happening. “We need to go.” As he pulled at Harry’s top, the man behind the glass started twitching, with increasing violence. The man’s head jolted and he turned, his dead, glossy eyes focusing on the two of them. They both stopped their movements. Perhaps if they didn’t move, it wouldn’t be able to see them. Like a tyrannosaurus, Liam thought, hysterically.

After a heartbeat’s pause the man let out an almighty, bloodcurdling scream, running right up to the window. All the hairs on Liam’s arms stood on end, his body tingling in shock. Beside him Harry let out a shaken whimper, pushing Liam towards the exit.

They both ran, not bothering to look back, no longer worried about making too much noise. They scrambled at the door, pushing it open. Once they were outside they immediately threw their combined weight against the door and Liam went to pull the bolt across it.

“No!” Harry cried.

Liam sent him a disbelieving look. “What do you mean, ‘no’?” he yelled, still pressing against the door, terrified something would try to escape.

Harry’s voice was small when he said, “What if there’s other people in there? They won’t be able to get out.”

He paused, staring at his friend. “Harry,” he said, softly. “I really don’t think there’s anyone else left in there, mate.”

“But we still don’t know about Zayn or Niall or – Louis could still be there,” Harry’s face was crumpled into a desperate plea.

He felt like the world’s biggest bastard but Liam replied, “We’ll find them. I promise we will, them and the others. Just, not in there.” He turned away from Harry and bolted the door. Harry stepped away, arms dropping to his sides, blinking rapidly.

Liam stumbled backwards, breathing heavily as he kept his eye on the lock to make sure it held. The back of his legs hit something solid and he turned on the spot. He groaned, what now?

He realised then that it must still be early. The clean morning light was shining down on them. They’d come outside to some sort of canvas covered area, the side of the cover billowing open to the flat countryside beyond. Around them were piles and piles of clothes and bags, one of which Liam had reversed into. Visions of the items’ past owners briefly filled Liam’s head, he wondered where they all were now. Safe, he hoped. Home, safe and sound.

Next to him Harry hit his arm and ran to the far side of the tent. Liam watched as he sank to the floor beside what Liam had taken to be another pile of clothes. It wasn’t though, as he walked closer, he saw that it was a person.

“Louis. Jesus, why – Louis?” Liam frowned as Harry knelt down next to where Louis was laid on the ground. He wasn’t moving. He found that his eyes were instantly drawn to Louis’ wrists, which were bare. No red tag. No blue tag either.

_Burn all dead._

“Louis?” Harry’s voice cracked as he curled one hand behind Louis’ neck, the other hand cupping his cheek. He shook him gently, “Can you hear me? Lou, please, can you –”

Liam let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding as they both watched Louis’ eyes flutter open. “Harry?” Louis mumbled, blinking up at the two of them. “Li, you alright, man?”

Harry and Liam shared a look, relieved laughter escaping them both.

Liam looked up at the blue sky outside as Harry helped Louis to his feet, “Louis, you have absolutely no idea what Harry and I have just been through. The world has gone to shit.”

“Eh?” Louis asked, brushing down his jeans. “Why was I lying on the ground? Anybody know?”

Harry smiled, gaze focused on Louis and hand still resting on the small of Louis’ back, “That’s really at the bottom of our list of questions, to be honest.”

Louis turned to him, coughing lightly, “Yeah? What’s at the top?”

Harry sighed, turning to Liam, “Li?”

Liam folded his arms, “God only knows. Basically, zombies are taking over, or something? I don’t know. That meteor strike had, like, a virus on it and now it’s infecting people.”

“Infecting people?” Louis asked, eyebrows raised.

“Seriously,” Harry replied, walking over to the opening in the canvas and looking out. “If you see weird, dead looking people lolloping about, just avoid them.”

Louis laughed until Harry and Liam both turned to him, expressions serious. He pursed his lips, “Right. Okay, avoid the Lollopers.”

By mutual silent agreement they began to walk out into the fields, taking it slowly. Liam said nothing as he watched Harry and Louis walk side by side. He looked on at them, occasionally bumping their feet together. They really did complimented each other perfectly and he wondered whether they’d ever get their act together and tell each other how they felt. He sighed, bigger fish to fry at the moment, really.

All three of them were trying to establish what exactly could’ve happened to everyone else in the hospital when they spotted a group of infected in the distance.

There was just enough time for Liam to start to panic at the sight when, from the middle of the crowd, an ambulance came pelting, hell for leather, towards them. Liam sent a shocked look to Harry and Louis, who both looked vaguely dumbfounded back at him. The ambulance got closer and closer and Liam was suddenly giddy with the prospect of other people. _Rescue._

When it reached the three of them, the rear doors of the ambulance swung open and Liam found himself face to face with Zayn. Zayn, whose face was tired and dull and dirty but who’d never looked so perfect. He broke out into a wide smile, reaching out to pull Liam up into the vehicle.

Niall smiled over from the driver’s seat, “Well, look at this, we’re getting the band back together again.”

Behind Liam, Harry let out a shocked laugh as he climbed into the back of the ambulance after Louis, “Please, take the liberty of bullshitting me any time you like.”

“Whey!” Niall yelled. “That’s the spirit, Styles. Everyone in? Let’s get the hell outta here.”

The four of them settled down in the back as Niall put his foot down. Liam looked over to Zayn, who was grinning at the rest of them.

Liam smiled, shaking his head, “I’m just going to come out and say it, because I think we’re all thinking it. I’m so glad you guys are alive.”

“You’re a big softy, Payne,” Louis smirked.

“Hey,” Liam pointed at him. “You have no idea how dead you looked when we found you, man. It was not cool.”

“Thought I was a Lolloper?”

Liam nodded, sagely, as Niall asked, “Lolloper?”

Harry spoke up while fitting his feet in between Louis’, “That’s what we’re calling them, apparently. Better than Zombie, at any rate.”

After a while of catching up and generally indulging in their reunion, Zayn coughed awkwardly, “I don’t want to ruin the mood but Niall and I, well, we don’t know where we go from here. Don’t ‘spose you lot have any plans?” Zayn’s gaze flicked between Harry, Liam and Louis.

Louis shifted in his seat, “Well, I mean, I don’t know for sure, ‘cause I don’t know how far we were from the destination, but Paul was telling me that there was an army base or something near where we were going to shoot. Might be close by?”

Niall was listening from the front, “Worth a shot, right?”

Liam rubbed his chin, “We could be miles off. The film I saw said it’d been two weeks since the hit. We could’ve been sent anywhere.”

“Two weeks?” Louis frowned. “How come we’ve all only just woken up now, then?”

Liam shook his head, “What does it matter?” He looked over to Niall, “Might as well just follow the road as far as we can, it’s bound to lead somewhere.”

Niall nodded, “That’s what I said.”

Silence fell between them all and Zayn shoved Harry’s shin with his foot, gently. “You alright? You’re pretty quiet.”

Liam watched as Harry blinked up at them all. “Yeah. It’s just, Paul, you know. Where is he? Where’s Lou? Is it just us?”

The silence following Harry’s question seemed deafening in Liam’s ears. The ambulance rumbled on along the dirt track, the occasional animalistic howl sounding from outside over the roar of the engine.

After what felt like hours, although when he looked down at his watch Liam noted it was still early afternoon, they saw a large building materialising in the distance. Niall slowed down, “What do we think?”

Louis stood up, ducking in order to see better out of the windscreen, “Go for it. Looks deserted from here.”

As the ambulance drove closer all the boys stared out of the windscreen, keeping a wary eye out. When Niall finally cut the engine they quietly got out and stared at the building before them. Zayn stepped forward and pulled the industrial sized door open, revealing a vast room stacked with beds, food, piles of paper and computer equipment. Everything really.

Louis huffed as he stepped up next to Zayn, “Well, this is awfully convenient.”

Liam slapped Niall on the back, smiling at him, “I wouldn’t exactly call any of this convenient, mate. Guess this is ‘home, sweet home’ for now?”

~

_Our boys need some time to calm down and get used to the safe surroundings of the compound and the threat of the highly contagious infected. We’ve created a message board at the compound where other ‘survivors’ have left notes for their families._

~

Louis stared down at the tin of sweetcorn in his hand. The other four boys were shuffling about around him, rearranging all the equipment and supplies into one corner of the gigantic warehouse they’d found themselves in. “For security,” Liam had said, so earnestly that Louis didn’t even have the heart to take the piss.

Something about it, though, felt wrong to Louis. But, he supposed, he’d never been through a zombie apocalypse before so maybe this was just what they felt like? It was weird.

It was late, the sun was dimmer and the air cooler outside by the time they’d all settled down. All of them had expertly managed to avoid talking about what was happening to them, distracted by the cataloguing of food, trying to figure out how to work the gas cooker or randomly flicking through the pages of old, tattered map books that were lying around.

Was it only Louis that felt like the elephant in the room was staring him straight in the eyes?

“Guys. Seriously. Zombies, though,” he said as he wrapped a blanket tighter around his shoulders. Zayn passed him a canteen filled with soup.

“Yeah,” Niall snorted. “Ain’t it crazy?”

Louis shuffled, “Yes. It’s crazy. It’s literally crazy, that’s what I mean.” Harry hummed next to him. “Don’t you think it’s a little ridiculous?”

“Mate,” Liam said, lowering himself into a chair opposite Louis. “I get that it’s totally bonkers, but there’s really not much we can do? We’ve just got to roll with it.”

Zayn scoffed loudly, “’Roll with it’? I don’t think I really want to just roll with it, Li. There’s freaky dead people out there.”

When Niall muttered, “Thought you were president of the ‘Lollopers Are People Too’ society?” Zayn threw a scarf at him, pouting.

Louis watched them all through thin eyes. “No, guys. I’m being serious. This is just, like, so absurd. It’s got to be some Derren Brown shit or something. _Zombies aren’t real_.”

Harry ruffled his forehead and shifted, so he was facing Louis. “You think it’s a set up?” He looked uncertain, shadows flickering across his tired face.

Louis felt the gazes of all the other boys land on him. “Well,” he started, feeling awkward. “Maybe. I mean, where’s my beard?” As Niall cackled into his soup, the other boys all smirked. Even Liam ducked his head. Louis rolled his eyes. “Oh, grow up,” he said, not quite able to keep the smile off his own face. “I’m talking about my actual beard.”

“Um. What?” Zayn asked, smile still lingering in his eyes.

“If we were all unconscious for two weeks, like Liam’s broadcast said, why don’t any of us have proper beards?”

Harry let out a small laugh and murmured as he scraped the bottom of his bowl, “Takes some of us longer than two weeks, man.” Louis flicked his head, turning to the others. He caught Liam’s eye.

“The nurses shaved us?” Liam offered, shrugging.

Louis sat forward on his seat. “What nurses?” he said. The more he thought about it, the more he began to believe it. This wasn’t real. His family were okay. “I woke up outside, remember?”

Liam looked around the warehouse, voice growing tight, “I don’t know, Louis. Perhaps you were being transferred, or something, and then the staff were interrupted?”

“Yeah,” Zayn joined in. “You were probably a stage behind me and Niall and a stage ahead of Harry and Liam. Or something.”

Louis threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “Ugh,” he groaned as he stood up, letting his blanket fall to the floor. “Whatever. You guys think what you want. I need some fresh air.” He ignored the shouts after him, echoing off the walls. As he approached the door he paused, fighting to push down the fear building inside him. _It’s not real_.

Without turning back he pushed the door open, letting it slam behind him. It had turned cold outside, the wind blowing through his jacket, giving him goosebumps. He squinted in the darkness, relieved to find that he was alone.

Now that he was out here, in the quiet, he could hear his own words from earlier ringing in his ears. He just couldn’t think that his family, his little sisters, _the babies_ , had been caught up in a meteor strike. It was beyond his imagining. He had pictures of the twins playing in his mind, matching dead eyes, dark blood running down their chins.

“Louis, come back inside. Please.”

He turned to see Harry standing behind him, hands stuffed in his pockets, eyeing the open countryside nervously. He shrugged, a practised show of nonchalance, “Don’t need to. There’s nothing out here that can hurt me.”

Harry stared at him for a moment before stepping closer. “Louis, please don’t mess about. Not right now.”

Louis found himself shouting. “Nothing’s going to happen! Nothing! There aren’t any zombies, no one’s going to die! It’s all rubbish! It’s all –” he broke off, panting into the cold silence.

“I know you don’t want to think about it, babe. Will you please –” Harry stopped short, reaching out to wrap his arms around Louis, pressing his lips to the top of Louis’ head. “I know you’re worried about them,” he said quietly. Louis shifted in his embrace. “Just, shouldn’t we work with what we know for sure?” Harry pulled back and looked Louis in the eye, “I don’t want to risk it.”

Louis turned away, staring stonily at the ground. He knew Harry was right, as much as he hated to admit it. He felt a twinge of guilt within him when he realised how much he wanted Harry to go back inside and out of danger.

He nodded silently and Harry visibly relaxed, “Good. Come on then, you almost gave Niall a heart attack.”

Louis started to walk back to the warehouse but Harry stayed still, staring into the night. Louis stopped, “Haz?”

“Can you see that?” Harry replied.

 “See what? I thought you wanted to go back inside?” he grumbled, trudging back to Harry’s side.

“I do, just – Can you see it? Just over there, a light?”

He leant closer, focusing on where Harry was pointing. Sure enough, in the distance, there was a small yellow light twinkling in the dark. Harry turned to him, “What do you reckon? Might be other people?”

“Could be,” Louis replied, slowly. “It’s too dark now, anyhow.” He pulled on Harry’s arm, turning him towards the door. “We’ll tell the others, check it out in the morning.”

“Alright,” Harry nodded resting his arm on Louis’ shoulders as they walked back inside.

When they returned to their corner, they found it empty. “Yes. I can see everyone was sick with worry,” Louis said, sarcastically.

Harry smiled at him, “Oh, shush.”

They both turned when they heard Niall’s voice from the opposite side of the building, “Hey, guys! Come over here, look what we found.”

Louis sent Harry an apprehensive look before following him to where the other boys were gathered.

“Alright?” Liam asked as they reached the group.

Louis nodded, eyes on the wall ahead. “What’s this?”

Liam maintained his gaze for a moment before turning and pointing to the wall. “Lost and found.”

Louis frowned at Liam’s words but as he moved closer he realised that Liam wasn’t far off. The wall of the warehouse was covered from end to end in posters, some hand written and some printed. As Louis stepped closer still he recognised the pattern. They were messages from people who had a missing family member or friend, asking if they’d been seen or telling people they were okay. He came to a halt at a small picture of a young boy grinning at the camera. ‘Have you seen this boy?’ the poster asked. Louis’ stomach dropped.

“There’s so many,” he heard Harry mutter at his shoulder.

Louis sighed. “Lost and found,” he said under his breath. He wondered how many had been found.

“Yeah,” Zayn murmured to Louis’ left. “It’s a bit depressing but we’ve found something that’s cool.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked, walking towards Zayn. Louis stared at the picture of the little boy for a second longer before following.

“Look,” Niall said, pointing to a poster at eye level. It was them. A picture of them, Louis remembered it being taken when they were filming the movie last year. Underneath the picture was a hand written message.

Is this you?

If it is, come to Secure Zone E. We’re waiting for you!

We got separated but we want you back.

Stay safe.

Lots of love, the team.

There was a smiley face at the bottom that could only have been drawn by Lou.

“They’re okay,” Louis said, relieved. He stood back, “So, we just need to get to this Zone E and we’re away.” That was do-able, surely? Then they could get back to normal. And if he knew he was lying to himself, so what?

“But how do we get there? We’ve absolutely no idea where these zones are,” Harry said to the group of them, pushing closer to Louis to get a good view of the poster. “We don’t know if they’re still even there.”

Louis huffed, “Right proper ray of sunshine you are.”

Harry turned to him, smile clear in his eyes. “I’m just saying, it’ll need some thought. In other news,” he said suddenly, turning to Liam, Niall and Zayn. “We have another exciting discovery. We found a light.”

“A light,” Zayn repeated, sounding unsure.

“Uhuh,” Harry nodded. “We think it might be attached to a building and that said building may house _other people_.” He looked over, waiting for the others to be impressed.

Liam, at least, made an effort, “Well we could check it out, when we know it’s safe. If it’s people they might help us get to the Secure Zone.”

Louis smiled at the four nodding heads around him, “Well lads, this sounds worryingly like a plan.”

“Damn right,” Niall murmured, pulling their poster from the wall and pocketing it, before heading back across the warehouse.

As they all turned to follow him, Zayn nudged Louis with his hip. “You good?” he asked quietly. Louis shrugged, waving him off and striding to keep in step with Niall. He really didn’t fancy talking about it. Talking about it made it real.

~

They all decided to go to bed early that night. Harry was pleased of it as, it turned out, zombie apocalypses were hard work and he was absolutely shattered. He felt like they were a hundred shows into their tour already.

He shifted on to his side, letting his eyes adjust to the dark. He found himself staring directly at Louis, who was looking up at the ceiling, chewing his lip, clearly deep in thought.

Harry smiled to himself. Sometimes he thought Louis was most beautiful like this, quiet, relaxed, peaceful. Only sometimes, though. He’d miss loud Louis after a while.

He watched as Louis huffed and rolled his eyes before speaking loudly into the silence, “Guys. Shit, guys. I’m sorry for being an arse earlier.”

Harry heard a snort from the behind him. “Don’t worry about it, Tomster,” Liam said. “It’s like your natural state of being, or something.”

“Hey,” Harry whined.

Louis wasn’t bothered. “Tomster?” he said, sounding faintly appalled. “Nah, I don’t like it. I don’t think that one’s going to work.”

“I don’t care what you like,” Liam dead panned.

Niall cackled in the background. It was nice to hear.

“That’s nice,” Louis replied, smile in his voice. “You won’t listen, Liam, will you? When people tell you that you’re not charming.”

“No, sir. I won’t,” Liam said gravely.

Quiet laughter echoed around the building. Harry pressed his hand to his mouth, stifling an awkward snort. Louis turned his head towards him, eyes twinkling in the dark.

“Hey, Harry,” he said. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

“Shut up, you loser,” Harry muttered, pulling up his duvet.

Several long minutes later and Harry was half way asleep. When he heard the howling outside, he first assumed it was just the wind. When he heard a second howl right outside, however, he froze in his bunk, listening carefully.

He could tell that the other boys were listening too, deliberate, regular breathing coming from the beds near him. He jumped when an alarmingly loud screech sounded from the other side of the wall. Within seconds the sound of fingernails scratching against the door and painful groaning echoed around the building.

Harry’s breath was coming in short pants when Niall’s wavering voice cut through the noise, “Are we all going to carry on pretending that we can’t hear that?” He trailed off with an awkward laugh.

“I’d be happy going down that route,” Zayn said loudly above the moans.

They all paused, listening.

When Niall voiced what they were all think, Harry squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his pillow, “They won’t get in here, though, right?”

“No,” Liam said. Harry focused on his steady tone. “I don’t think they have the motor skills to work door handles, let alone multiple locks.”

“Okay,” Niall breathed.

The side wall of the hanger shook.

“Louis?” Harry murmured quietly

“Yeah, Haz?”

“Can I – Oh, nothing.” Harry felt a flush creep up his skin as he thought of Liam, Niall and Zayn listening to their conversation. “Never mind.”

“What? What is it?” He could hear Louis shifting on his bed.

“ _Nothing_ ,” he insisted.

“He wants to bunk with you,” Zayn said from the corner, smirk clear in his voice, although it promptly vanished as another wail rang through the wall.

“Zayn! What am I, five?” Harry whispered loudly over Niall and Liam’s sniggers. “No, I do not want to bunk with you.”

He curled tighter in on himself when the sound of several bodies banging against the door shocked him.

“Harry?” Louis asked, voice low.

He paused for a while before answering. “Yes?”

“You want to cuddle with me?”

“Maybe?”

“Come over here,” Louis said. Harry looked over to see Louis holding open the blanket for him to crawl into.

He paused for another second before rushing out of bed and lying down next to Louis. He turned to face Louis on the bed, careful to keep a slither of space between their bodies. He let out a huge sigh of relief as the sounds outside eventually began to vanish. Louis smiled over at him, “You alright there, mate?”

 _Mate_.

“How are you so brave?” he asked.

Louis scoffed, “I’m not brave, Haz. I’m in complete and utter denial. They’re two very different things.”

Harry laughed and tried not to read too much into Louis’ pleased grin.

His gaze flicked between Louis’ eyes before he said, in barely more than a whisper, “I’m so scared.”

Louis stayed silent for a while, the sounds of the other three boys breathing heavily from their bunks, clearly fast asleep again, echoed around the large warehouse. “Well, you know, bravery is worthless if you’re not scared first.”

“Who said that?” Harry asked. His voice was quiet, with his lips close to Louis’ ear.

Louis turned his head so he was looking directly at Harry, perplexed expression filling Harry’s view. “What do you mean? I just did.”

Harry shifted his legs, knocking his and Louis’ toes together in the process. “Yeah, but, like, who are you quoting?”

“Um,” Louis stared back up at the ceiling. “Nobody.”

“Oh, it just sounded really deep, that’s all.”

Louis laughed, loud and warm in the darkness, “Thanks very much. I can be philosophical when I want to be, Mr Styles.”

“Yeah, I know,” he smiled, tucking his head into Louis’ shoulder. “Thank you.”

He felt it more than he heard it when Louis replied, “Don’t mention it.” After that he fell asleep, safe in Louis’ arms.

~

_We join the boys in the old military base where they’re sheltering while deciding what to do._

~

The next morning was a trial, not just for Harry but for them all.  After the terrible night’s sleep and the noise of zombie attacks still loud in their memories, nobody was as confident as they had been to set off in search of a mysterious light. Instead they resolved to take a closer look at the equipment they had found at the base the day before. Niall had identified a radio in the mess and was determined to get it working.

“The secure places are gonna have some sort of communication network, right,” he reasoned when Harry asked him what he was doing. “So we just have to find it and let them know we’re here.”

Harry couldn’t fault his logic.

An hour and a half later, however, and Louis and Zayn had given up even the pretence of interest. They’d wondered off and were examining the piles of new, more detailed maps that they’d discovered. Liam, Harry suspected, had fallen asleep and was propped up at the wall next to him. Harry was simply staring into space as Niall grew more and more frustrated. Eventually he threw his hands up in the air.

“Fine. I give up.” He glared at the machine, “Are you happy now? I’m done.”

“How’s it going over there? You’ve reached the mentally unstable stage, then?” Louis teased from across the room.

Niall grumbled and walked over to them, “At least we know what we can’t do.”

Harry poked Liam, who jerked awake with a scowl and dragged him up to join the others. He planted himself down next to Louis. “The way I see it,” he said. “We’ve got to get out and try and contact someone, really. Haven’t we? We have to go out and investigate that light.”

They all looked around dubiously. Harry began flicking bits of dried mud off his boots. “We shouldn’t all go, it’ll draw too much attention. Maybe two of us.” He didn’t look up but the boys’ silence gave him his answer. He coughed, “I’ll go –”

“Harry,” Louis started, next to him.

“No, Lou, it’s fine. I’ll go. I just need someone to come with me.” He was looking directly at Louis as he spoke, willing the other man to volunteer but at the same time praying he wouldn’t.

Louis opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Niall stood up. “I’m in. I’ll come with you.”

Harry let out a thankful breath. He could see Liam and Zayn exchange a look out of the corner of his eye.  Louis gazed at him, silently. He remained silent as Harry and Niall gathered their things together.

While Niall snuck outside to bring the ambulance to the door, Harry waited nervously. He shifted from foot to foot, internally cursing himself for putting his name forward.

Louis spoke up from where he was leaning against the wall, arms folded. “You’ll be safe, yeah?” he asked. “You won’t do anything stupid?”

Harry shrugged weakly. “Can’t help myself sometimes, you know me.”

Louis pushed himself off the wall, making sure Liam and Zayn were distracted. “I’m being serious. What is it the movie stars say? Don’t be a hero?”

“Yeah. Right before someone proceeds to be a hero and dies a horrible, tragic death.”

Louis sent him a look that he couldn’t quite decipher. “You’re not going to die. Just – You’re being brave enough just going out there, okay? You don’t have to prove anything, not to the guys and not to me.”

At that moment the door opened to reveal Niall in the ambulance and Liam was taking hold of Harry’s arm, leading him to the door. He caught Louis’ eye and nodded before clambering into the passenger seat.

“Good luck. Be safe,” Liam yelled from the hanger as they drove off.

Once they were out of sight, Harry buried his head in his hands. “Shit. Fucking shit.” He purposely ignored the side eye he received from Niall.

The journey to where Harry had seen the light was reasonably quick and mercilessly zombie free. Niall grinned at him, eyebrows wiggling, when they saw a small building in the distance. “Yes,” Harry smiled, eyes on the horizon.

His optimism dwindled as they got closer to the building, however. When they stopped in front of it they both stared.

“It’s a shed,” Niall said plainly.

“Well,” Harry was struggling to find a silver lining. “Don’t judge a book by its cover? ‘Sides, at least there aren’t any Lollopers about.”

Niall nodded over Harry’s shoulder, “Don’t quit the day job, will you?”

Harry turned. _Bollocks_. They were in the distance, far in the distance, but there was a large group of Lollopers making their way slowly towards the ambulance.

Harry hurried for his seatbelt. “Let’s get this done before they get here, then.”

Niall nodded and stepped out of the van, heading towards the door. Harry followed, shutting the van door carefully behind him. He wasn’t sure a Lolloper could climb into the ambulance but he didn’t want to take any chances.

They had to break down the door. Harry cringed as he rammed the solid wood with his shoulder for the third time, certain it wouldn’t be doing his back any good. After a few more goes and with Niall’s help, they made it into the building.

“Shit,” Harry stared at the single, concreted room. “Shit.” He kicked the wall. There wasn’t anything. Just some large green metal container in the centre. Probably completely useless.

“Hey, Harry. Come on,” Niall replied, hand on Harry’s back. “Don’t get angry. It was a good idea. It was –” he fell silent.

Harry turned to see what had Niall distracted. “What? What is it?”

The other man had a frown on his face, which was abruptly replaced with a disbelieving grin.

“What?” Harry asked again, still not understanding.

Niall pointed, now laughing in earnest. “It’s not on. The power’s not on.”

Harry stepped towards where Niall was pointing. A large sign was fixed to the wall.

POWER TO BASE

Directly below was a massive lever, firmly fixed in the ‘off’ position. Harry ducked his head, smile wide. He turned to Niall, “When we get back, we’re telling the others we had to fight bears, or something.”

“Naturally,” Niall agreed before striding past Harry and flipping the lever.


	3. Chapter 3

_Tonight I bring you the next part of a highly ambitious project. I’ve convinced the five members of pop group One Direction that a meteor strike has devastated Great Britain and hope that they will discover the true value of their lives._

_The five bandmates have begun to take control of the situation they’ve found themselves in. By building up the courage to go out into the countryside and fix the generator, they’ll now be able to radio for help. That ‘help’, of course, will be me._

_Welcome back to ‘Apocalypse’._

~

When Harry and Niall stumbled back into the warehouse, matching grins on their faces, Zayn was finally able to relax again.

Niall’s wide smile made him look vaguely maniacal as he said, “We did it. We actually succeeded! Go Team Hiall!”

Harry and Niall high-fived as Louis, Liam and Zayn gathered around.

“’Hiall’?” Louis asked, sceptically. Zayn had to admit, he was with Louis on that one but at the prospect of rescue, he couldn’t care less about what came out of Niall’s mouth.

“Yeah,” Niall nodded. “Better than Narry, surely?”

“Guys!” Zayn interrupted, just as Louis opened his mouth to reply. “Not really the point. What do you mean, you succeeded? Is help coming?”

Harry and Niall looked at each other. “Not yet,” Harry said, slowly, eyes twinkling with glee. “But we turned the power on, so I reckon that’ll go a good way in fixing the radio.”

Louis let out a disbelieving laugh, “That’s been the problem? The power wasn’t on? How come the lights –”

Zayn didn’t care what Louis had to say, he ran over to the table they’d found the radio on and flicked the on/off switch. He let out an undignified squeal as the buttons in front of him lit up and static started coming from the speaker.

“Is it working?” Liam asked excitedly, running over to stand at Zayn’s shoulder. “It’s making noise. That must mean it’s working!” They were going to get rescued, Zayn thought, elated.

The other three hurried over, all encouraging Zayn to radio someone. He looked over his shoulder, “Just radio someone? I have no idea how radios work, why don’t one of you radio someone?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Just press the button and speak into the microphone thing,” he said, loosely waving his fingers at the table.

Zayn eyed him for a moment before pressing the big red button at the base of the microphone and moving his mouth towards it, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

He leaned back, waiting for a reply but all they heard was the sound of static.

“Try again,” Louis said, voice hoarse.

He dutifully complied, although he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. “If anyone’s there, please, um, come in.”

Static.

Zayn bit his lip, “Hello? Anyone?”

They were all silent. The unabashed joy from moments before quickly evaporating into nothing. Zayn violently shoved the microphone away from him, angry at himself for believing it would work.

He stood up, sending the small wooden chair he’d been occupying flying backwards.

“Zayn,” Louis said, following him as he marched away. “Mate, don’t get upset –”

_“Oscar Zulu, Oscar Zulu.”_

They all froze and Zayn turned slowly, eyes wide, to the radio.

“Fucking hell,” Liam breathed before jumping to action and picking up the chair to sit in front of the radio. “Argh, what do I do?” he panicked.

Zayn and Louis crowded back around the table as Harry jabbed his finger towards the red button.

“ _Come in. Do you read? Oscar Zulu, come in. Do you read?”_ The voice from the speaker asked, accent like that of a pilot from a nineteen fifties war film.

“Hello, yes, hello,” Liam’s voice trembled as he leant over the microphone. “We read, we fucking read. Hello.” He eyed the microphone for a moment before adding, “Um, over?”

“ _Oscar Zulu, do you read?”_

“Yes, reading, we read! Over.” Zayn crouched down near the speaker, determined not to miss a word.

_“Copy. Can you give me your names? Repeat. Can you give me your names?”_

“Er. Roger that,” Liam looked over to the rest of them, irrepressible smile on his face as they all beamed down at him. “I’m Liam Payne. Um, and there’s, um, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan. There’s five of us. Er, do you – do you read? Over.”

There was a long pause where Zayn felt like he would cry any second.

_“Payne? Tomlin – There are five of you?”_

“Five, yes.”

_“Are you the band? We have a Mr Higgins here, he seems to think you’re his.”_

“Higg –” Liam stopped short, smile too wide to carry on. “We’re his, yeah.”

Zayn reached his hands to his head, stunned. Paul was okay. He grabbed hold of that information for dear life. If Paul was safe at the Zone still, the whole crew could still be there, his family could be safe.

_“We will send a helicopter tomorrow at oh two hundred hours to the helipad three miles south west of your location. We will not wait. Please be ready. Do you read?”_

“Yes. We read. Thank you. We read,” Liam laughed, looking around to the rest of them.

_“Thank you. Over and out.”_

There was a moment of silence as they all held their breath, nervous to believe what had just happened. Niall broke the tension with an abrupt cackle, which resulted in Harry and Louis jumping on him, yells of joy and relief echoing loudly throughout the large hanger.

Zayn watched them jump up and down, bundled together. His heart was fluttering against his ribcage but he was hesitant to let it fly. When he caught Liam’s eye, however, his delight was so evident that Zayn couldn’t help himself. He grinned and let the giddying prospect of rescue consume him. He and Liam joined the excited bundle of arms and legs careening around the room. They were safe. The worst was done.

It was well into night by the time they’d got everything sorted for their rescue, all of them running around like headless chickens. Zayn was more than ready to get out of this hell hole. He wanted to see his family, like, yesterday. He had thanked his lucky stars when he and Niall had found the other three, if he had to endure the end of the civilised world then he was grateful they were by his side, but he needed to be with his mum, with his sisters.

They were all sitting in their corner, when Louis collapsed down on to the floor next to Harry’s legs, “I still say this is all fake.” Zayn braced himself. When Louis got a bee in his bonnet, sometimes he really didn’t know when enough was enough.

“Oh, here we go,” Liam sighed, although he looked more amused than anything as he turned to Louis. “Go on then, Lou. Why is it fake?”

Zayn curled his legs to his chest, smiling into his knees in spite of himself, as he watched Louis lean forward and prepare himself for a performance.

“Well, Liam, if you really want to know, it’s all a little too comfortable, don’t you think?” Louis said, nodding at them all, eyes wide.

Zayn laughed incredulously as Liam looked confused. “Mate,” Harry chuckled. “I’m not sure how you measure it, but this is not my version of ‘too comfortable’. It’s not even a little comfortable.”

Louis turned his head to peer up at Harry, “You say that, but I don’t agree. I mean, look around.” He opened his arms to the vast space around them. “We’ve got shelter, food, maps, beds, all the stuff you’d need and we found it all in the first place we looked.”

Niall had been lying on his camp bed, staring at the ceiling but he lifted his head at Louis’ words, “Yeah, but that’s ‘cause it’s clearly where they stored everything. It’s like an abandoned army base, it makes sense for stuff to be here.”

“That’s another thing,” Louis carried on, unperturbed. “Who’s ‘they’? Where is everyone?”

Zayn frowned, “This isn’t the moon landing, they’re at the secure bases. Delta Charlie or whoever said so. On the radio. You’re just obsessed with the clandestine, is what you are.”

Niall let out an impressed whistle, which Zayn acknowledged with a nod of the head.

Louis prattled on, “So some guy, that could be anyone, tells us something and we just believe it, with no proof? Why was it just the five of us that got left behind? The five of us that just happen to be in a band together? Are you not even a little bit suspicious?”

Liam replied, “I suppose, I get your point, but –” He huffed, “I dunno, man. It just seems a little far-fetched. Why would anyone bother to fake the end of the world?”

Louis laughed, tipping his head back onto Harry’s thigh, “You think that seems far-fetched? There are literally dead people walking around outside and you think that is more likely than a set-up?”

Liam shrugged as Harry and Niall chuckled.

“What about the tour schedule?” Louis was really getting into his stride, now. Zayn sat up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. “So we had a massive gap in the schedule – for no reason – and then all hell breaks loose?” He shook his head “Nah, man. It’s fake. There’ll be cameras all around this joint. This’ll all just be polystyrene or something,” he said, knocking the bucket of pans near the gas fire with his toe.

Zayn scoffed, “Give me a break.”

They all turned to him. “What was that?” Harry asked, brow furrowed.

Zayn was beginning to get frustrated. What Louis was saying made sense to him and it caused a little ball of hope to swell in his chest. He couldn’t afford to hope. He shrugged, looking over to everyone, “So what?”

“What do you mean?” Louis asked, shuffling closer to him on the floor.

“I mean, so what if it is fake? We can’t prove it, can we? Doesn’t make any difference to what we need to do,” he said harshly, sinking back further into his bed. He watched as Louis blinked down to the floor, feeling guilt instantly well up inside him.

Louis was that little ball of hope and all Zayn did was put him out. Like some great blundering troll. Or something. He scrunched up his nose. _It had been a long day_.

“Alright, Zee,” Louis said, voice quiet. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

He sighed, suddenly exhausted, “I’m not upset.” He rubbed a hand over his face, “Sorry. I just – Can we not talk about it? There’s not any point talking about it if we can’t do anything to change it.” He scratched his ear, feeling awkward.

“Yeah, okay. If you want to. Sorry, mate.” Louis looked uncomfortable, even when Harry reached down to rest a hand on his shoulder. Great, Zayn thought, now he felt like a complete cock. 

“It’s alright,” he said, tired.

“Right,” Liam said into the silence that followed, clapping his hands on his knees and standing up. “I think it’s time for lights out. Big day tomorrow.” They all mumbled in agreement and made their way to their beds. Zayn was tucking his blanket under his legs when Liam crouched down next to his head. “You sure you’re okay?”

Zayn blushed a little, embarrassed about making a scene. “I’m fine, really. I’m just nervous about tomorrow, probably.”

Liam nodded. “It’ll be fine. We’ll stick together. We conquered the U.S. Charts, didn’t we? What’s a little zombie apocalypse compared to that?” He smiled, flicking Zayn on the nose before heading over to his own bed.

Zayn pulled his blanket closer around his shoulders, digging his head into his pillow. He wanted so much to believe everything that Louis had said but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t make that leap. If Louis was wrong, if it was real and there was a zombie infection spreading across the country, well, he didn’t think he could take the disappointment.

He listened to Niall swear as he knocked into the small table, trying to find his way back after switching the main lights off. 

Better to be labelled a fool, Zayn thought before sleep overtook him, then to deny reality when it came and smacked you in the face.

~

_It has become apparent that Louis has suspicions that all may not be as it seems in our post-apocalyptic world. As one of the stronger characters in the group, I’m concerned that Louis’ insistence that the events unfolding around the band are fake will cause the experiment to fail. As a result I have resolved to remove Louis from the environment we’ve created._

~

The next morning Niall nodded along, fingers clasped tightly around his flask of coffee, as Liam tapped an index finger to their location on the map. Niall hadn’t got much sleep after Zayn and Louis’ argument. He knew it wasn’t really a big argument, no bridges had been burned, but he hated it when any of them fought. It made him feel not himself. Almost temporary. Even though he’d seen the two of them chatting quietly over breakfast, clearly making up, he still wasn’t right.

People thought that he never worried, when the truth was, he was just better at hiding it than some.

“So we all know where we’re going later?” Liam asked them all. “Niall’s volunteered to drive again, so we can worry about that instead of the Lollopers, alright?” Liam smiled and the lads around him laughed weakly at his attempt to lighten the mood.

Niall fiddled with the corner of the map, distracted, until he noticed everyone looking at him. “What?” he asked.

Harry frowned, raising an eyebrow at him, “You alright?”

He nodded. He was alright. They were getting rescued today, what could be better? Well, no zombie apocalypse, for a start. When life gives you lemons, he supposed. He was alright, he was just feeling unsettled. He needed air.

He bit his lip, looking over at his friends, “Should we just go out before and, I dunno, clear the area?” He shrugged. “Make sure there aren’t any zombie groups on the path before we try and drive it?”

Harry pushed his hair out of his face, considering the idea. “Yeah, I mean, it might be good to get to know the route a little first, too.”

“Um, sorry,” Louis coughed, pulling his jacket tighter around himself and shifting on his feet. “But surely we’d be safer just driving through any of the walking dead. Going out of foot seems pretty unnecessary.”

Niall sighed, “Thought it was all fake anyway.” Louis narrowed his eyes at him, while Harry gave him a disapproving look. Niall tried his hardest not to smirk.

“Louis does have a point,” Zayn said, scratching his chin.

Louis preened, clapping Zayn on the back. “Thank you, Zayn.”

Niall pushed back off the small table, letting out a moan. It felt like the vast warehouse walls were closing in on him, they’d all he’d seen in what felt like forever. “C’mon, guys. I can’t just sit around the hanger all day, waiting to leave. This’ll just take our minds off it,” he pleaded. “If there are any people out there, we can just turn back and deal with it when take the ambulance.”

Louis scoffed, “So what’s the point in doing it then?”

Niall could see Harry, Liam and Zayn watching the two of them. For some reason, Niall could tell Louis was the tie breaker on this.

“Just, as a favour to me?” he asked, in the most sincere voice he could manage. “I’m getting cabin fever here, alright?”

Louis eyed him for a while before relenting. “Fine, but it’s only because you’re pretty, mind.”

Niall beamed.

Forty five minutes later, he was still beaming, already feeling ten times better. He kicked up tufts of grass as he walked along the field, hands in his pockets.

“I need a piss,” Louis declared, stretching his arms over his head.

“Good to know,” Niall replied

“D’you reckon it’d be alright to go in those trees?”

Niall looked over to the forest next to them. It looked decidedly sinister in his opinion. “Not really, mate.”

Louis rested his hands on his hips, staring across the exposed ground. “I’m not going in the open countryside,” he said, shaking his head.

Niall stopped his pacing. “Why not?” he asked, confused. “It’s only us.”

The two of them had broken away from the others, who were examining the far side of the field, to investigate closer to the tree line. If he was being honest, Niall knew they weren’t doing a very good job but that’s why he’d partnered up with Louis. It’d be more fun with him. He needed fun right now.

“Yeah, but it’s windy, innit?” Louis said, as if he were talking to a five year old.

Niall paused, brow creasing, “Right.”

Louis pulled a face, “Might get splash back or something.”

Niall gave a short, breathy laugh. Honestly, he couldn’t believe Louis was the oldest sometimes. “Well, piss with the wind on your side then. No, actually, do whatever,” he said. “Just don’t be long, I think Liam wants us back over with them.” As he spoke he looked over to where the other three were and was pretty sure he saw Liam swinging his arms about to get their attention.

“Sure thing, Cap’n,” Louis mocked before heading into the thick forest.

Niall watched the spot where he’d disappeared for moment, his stomach twisting uncomfortably as he remembered Liam telling them earlier not to split up.

He shook the thought out of his head. They hadn’t seen a Lolloper all morning, it would be fine. Niall stuffed his hands into his pockets and starting to traipse slowly back across the field. Moments later he heard shaking foliage far off to his right and his heart leapt into his throat before he recognised Louis’ scruffy hair and denim jacket emerging from the tree line.

Bloody zombie apocalypse making him jumpy.

He squinted over to the figure, cupping his hands around his mouth to shout. “Oi, Tommo. Get over here, I think we’re heading down the track on the other side,” he bellowed, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

He turned back and continued to walk over to Harry, Liam and Zayn. He didn’t know how many steps he’d taken, head full of the prospect of getting rescued, when he noticed the three boys, small in the distance, start to run over.

As they got closer he could hear their panicked yells.

“Oh my God, move!”

“Stop it! Get off him!”

“Louis! Louis, no! LOUIS!”

Niall’s heart stopped as Harry’s final scream ran through his body. He knew, _he could feel it_. That was the worst sound he could ever hear. It was terror. Pure, unadulterated terror. Harry was petrified. The thought filled him with dread.

He watched as a pale-faced Zayn began to pull Harry back towards the direction of the warehouse. The younger man was screaming, scratching at Zayn’s arms, trying to get loose.

He didn’t want to turn. He didn’t want to see what Harry was screaming at, but he couldn’t hear him. _Louis_. He couldn’t hear Louis behind him and he should be able to. Louis should be there, moaning about having to expend energy, grumbling about being forced outside, coming up with some stupid joke about pissing on trees. But he wasn’t. The air was just full of Harry’s relentless shouting.

He blinked, startled to find his eyes were wet. He turned, eyes scrunched tightly together, body trembling and let out a shaky breath.

When he opened his eyes, time seemed to stop. Harry’s screams, Liam’s yells for him to “Move. Bloody hell, Niall, move!” were drowned out by the sound of his own heart echoing in his head.

Louis.

Niall looked on as his friend’s lifeless body, so small and still, was dragged away by a group of zombies. He felt frozen as he watched the trail of blood covering the grass in their wake. Before he realised what he was doing, he found himself moving forward, running towards the group.

If he could get Louis back, it would be fine. As long as they didn’t take him away, as long as Louis was with him, it would be fine. It would be fine _. Louis would be fine._

He was panting as the group of undead ahead of him began to disappear into the trees. He pushed to pick up his speed when he was tackled to the ground. “Get off me!” he yelled, voice hoarse, as he clawed at the person above him.

“Niall.”

The deep voice pulled him out of his trance. He saw Liam leaning over him, sweat glistening on his skin, chest heaving rapidly.  “Li,” Niall started. “Li, c’mon. They were just there. Liam, come on, man –” he groaned, trying to get up and pull Liam with him.

“Niall. They’re gone, it’s no use. He’s – It’s – We have to get back to the hanger. It’s not – It isn’t safe out here.” Liam’s voice was strained. As Niall gave up struggling, he felt how Liam’s hands trembled on his skin.

“We have to get back,” Liam repeated.

Niall looked over across the field. All traces of the group of Lollopers had gone. It was as if they were never there. Niall let out a desperate sob, “Louis –”

“I know, Niall,” Liam said, blinking hastily. “But we have to get back.”

Niall slumped against Liam’s chest, all energy having left him, “He was fine. I just – It was seconds. I left him for seconds, Liam. I didn’t –”

“I know, mate. I know.”

They both walked back towards the warehouse in silence, Niall could hardly think straight. Everything was taking so much effort. Take a step. Blink. Breathe. Take another step. When they finally pushed the door to the hanger open, they were welcomed to the sight of Harry crouched at the wall, arms wrapped around himself, sobbing silently into his elbow. Zayn was standing behind him, looking completely and utterly lost.

The door slammed behind them, closing the four of them in the artificial light. It was then that Niall finally let the tears fall down his cheeks.

~

Louis grimaced into the shadows, zipping up his fly. He’d been trying to ignore it but, since he’d entered the forest, he kept hearing things. It sounded like footsteps and, was it talking? Yes, he thought, straining his ears. It was low, murmured conversation.

He turned and began to walk quickly to the edge of the forest, to re-join Niall and the others. He almost had a heart attack when somebody stepped out in his path.

He scrambled back, tripping over a twisted tree root and falling backwards only to be pulled back by a pair of gloved hands. His gaze travelled up from the hands at his shoulders, to the face staring back at him.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

It was Derren Brown. It was actually Derren Brown. He’d been right. Oh my God, he was right. It was all fake. They were safe, his family were okay.

It was a good thing Derren had a firm grip on him, or he may have fallen to the ground in sheer relief. Derren’s eyes twinkled at him, “Hello, Louis. I’m Derren.”

Louis laughed, “Hi. Yes, I know. You piece of shit.” He let out a breath, “I’m so happy to see you, man. Jesus Christ.”

Derren stepped closer, lowering his voice, “Now, I’ll explain everything to you back at our control centre but I think you’ve got a lot of it figured out anyway, don’t you?”

He rubbed his elbow awkwardly, “Yeah, but, I mean, that was just talk. I didn’t actually think – I’m never right.”

“Well, you were sailing a little too close to the sun for us, so we want to take you out of the experiment.”

“Experiment?” An image of him and the others trapped in cages, being circled by men in white coats flitted across Louis’ mind.

“That’s what we’re going for. I want to find out if putting you all through the end of the world will change your outlook on life.” Derren cocked his head, “It’s a positive thing.”

Louis couldn’t think of anything eloquent to say, so instead blurted out, “You bastard. We thought it was the end of the world! ”

“That was rather the point,” Derren acknowledged. “Now, Louis, to take you out convincingly we want to make the other boys believe that you’ve been attacked and killed by the ‘Lollopers’, as you’ve delightfully named them.”

“Killed?” Louis said, feeling unsure. He knew how upset he’d be if one of the boys died, he didn’t want to put them through that. How would Harry react? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Oh God, what if he wasn’t upset at all? But then, it might be good to see what Harry felt, one way or the other, to see if he stood a chance at all. They wouldn’t be too bothered, would they? Not after they found out the truth. He bit his lip, “Bit extreme, isn’t it?”

“It’s the apocalypse,” Derren replied, simply. “Do we have your permission to go ahead? We’ve got a body double on standby now to play out your death scene.”

Louis knew it was a question, that he had a choice. He thought about, for a second, what it would be like to walk out, getting to say ‘I told you so’, but the image left him unfulfilled. His brain felt fuzzy. He jiggled his knee, nervously.

“You have a plan?” he asked, eyes narrow.

“I have a brilliant plan. There’s only a few more hours left, then they’ll all find out the truth.” Derren’s voice was confident, reassuring.

Louis shuffled his feet. If it was only for a few more hours. He gave a small nod, “Be a shame to waste all that effort.”

Derren smiled, squeezed his shoulder, and turned his head to speak into a walkie-talkie, “We’re good to go.” He looked up at Louis, “Good man.”

They stayed for a moment in silence before Louis noticed the camera just over Derren’s shoulder. Louis crumpled his brow, “Were you filming me with my dick in my hand just now?”

Derren huffed out a laugh, clapping the camera woman on the back, “I can assure you, Sarah here is the epitome of discretion.”

Louis jumped as he heard screaming from the fields, drowning out Derren’s words. That was quick, he thought. It sounded like Harry. He stepped towards the noise but Derren took his arm, “It’s to help them. It will be good for you all, in the end, I promise.”

He paused for a second before nodding and following Derren and Sarah further into the forest, distant yells fading to silence.

~

Harry had heard people talking about what was like to lose someone that you were close to; that you went numb or you seemed lost, or like you’d been split in two. He’d never really thought about it, though, what that would actually _feel_ like.

Maybe it was a little like what he was feeling now.

It was like he was drowning. That panic as he tried to reach the surface, to breathe again, but he couldn’t get there. Not without Louis. And he couldn’t escape it, either. There was nowhere in his head he could hide from the thought.

Louis was dead. He wasn’t coming back.

He could hear the other guys, the noise muffled in his head. They were talking to each other, he couldn’t focus on the words. No doubt they were talking about what to do next. What could they do? What options did they have without Louis with them? Harry didn’t have any options.

Harry stared at Louis’ camp bed. An hour ago, he’d been sitting there, talking normally. If only Harry had known that it was going to be their last conversation. He should have told him. He should have told him every day, consequences be damned, how much he cared for him. How much he loved him. He loved him. “Jesus,” he said, the sound of his own voice a shock to his system, as though he expected it to be gone. Now he’d never get the chance. All that time he kept putting it off, kept making excuses.

He curled tighter in on himself and was shocked when he felt a hand on his back. He turned his head slowly, having to blink his eyes clear, to see Niall kneeling at his side. Niall’s eyes were red and puffy. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t form the words. He didn’t know what he wanted to say.

Niall simply shook his head and pulled Harry to him. Harry closed his eyes, pressing his face into Niall’s neck.

He heard Niall whisper somewhere above his head, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He blocked the sound out. All he wanted right now was Louis and no words could make that go away, but he took comfort in Niall’s warm embrace. His solid presence and thumping heartbeat were enough to ground Harry, if just for now. They brought him back to the present. The horrible, damp and infected present.

It felt like hours that they sat there in silence. None of them knew what to say, so nobody said anything at all. It was like purgatory. Liam’s watched beeped obnoxiously, echoing around the large hanger.

“It’s twelve thirty,” he said, voice rough.

The sound seemed to bring Niall out of a reverie. “I’m so sorry,” he choked, jerking at Harry’s side.

“For what?” Liam asked, turning his whole body with great effort to face the two of them.

“It’s all my fault,” Niall started. His normally confident voice wavered as he spoke. “I made him go outside. He said it was a bad idea, you all did, and now he’s – he’s dead and it’s my fault. I should’ve stopped him. I shouldn’t have left him on his own.”

Harry’s heart sunk, “No, Niall. That’s not true.”

“Niall, don’t you dare think that. Hey, Louis’ a big boy, isn’t he? He makes his own decision, we all do. Yeah, we knew it was dangerous, but we did it anyway. We’re all as responsible as each other. We’re all –” Liam didn’t finish his sentence. Instead he dropped his head to his hands and Harry watched as he pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes.

Zayn walked over to him, gently sitting down at his side. Harry blinked, leaning closer to Niall. Louis was the best at giving advice. People never believed him, when he said it, but these serious, heart to heart conversations? Louis would have been all over them.

 _Louis was. Louis would have been. Louis isn’t any more_.

The rest of them were just lost at sea.

Zayn coughed, “You holding up, Liam? Come on, you need to be strong too.” He lent close to Liam’s ear and whispered, just loud enough for Harry to hear, “Please, Li.”

Liam took a sharp breath in and lifted his head, nodding stoically.

Zayn stood up and looked to the three of them. Underneath the sickly pallor of his skin, he seemed determined. “We need to get to that helipad.”

Harry shifted where he sat. They were just going move on? Even after Louis’ – Even after what happened to Louis? Deep down he knew it’s what they had to do but it made it seem so final. So irreversible. “He’s gone,” he breathed. “Louis’ gone.”

“Yeah,” Zayn responded, softly.

“What if he’s right? Do you think he might’ve been right? That it’s not real? He’d be okay then.” Even as the words came out of his mouth, Harry knew he was clutching at straws.

“I think –” Zayn started, staring down at his hands. He lifted his head to look Harry in the eye. “I think we need to, maybe, work on the basis that he’s wrong.”

Harry ducked his head, “What do we do? What do we do, now?”

Zayn licked his lips. “We carry on,” he shrugged. “There’s nothing else we can do.”

~

_Although what you have just witnessed may appear extreme, Harry, Liam, Niall and Zayn are being monitored at all times by a psychiatrist and medical professionals. They are surrounded by actors whom I am in constant contact with through their hidden ear pieces. Although distressing, we are certain that Louis’ temporary death will not have any permanent, detrimental impact on the boys’ mental, emotional or physical well-being._

~

It was a quiet and solemn party that loaded up the ambulance before they left for the helipad. Liam hovered next to Louis’ bed, staring down at his hoodie that was lying on the floor beside it. It was the only thing that they had left of him. He sat down on the bed, gathering the hoodie in his hands. As he wiped off the dust that had gathered, he began to think again. It was hard to describe the emotions running through him, it was more than just an overwhelming sense of sadness; it was the loss of something that you thought you’d always have. The destruction of a part of your future. Louis was supposed to be there. He shook his head clear, now was the time to act, not sit and cry about things you couldn’t change.

He jumped into the back of the ambulance where the others were waiting, hoodie in hand.

“What’s that you’ve got?” Zayn asked.

He shrugged, “It’s was Louis’. Thought, you know –” he trailed off, ducking his head.

Nobody spoke as Niall started up the engine.

The ride was silent. Liam concentrated on how the van bounced with each pot hole. Niall was driving way too fast. It suddenly occurred to him that perhaps Niall shouldn’t be driving when he was so upset.

He looked up to see Zayn staring at him, arm around Harry’s shoulders. Jesus, if he felt this bad he can’t imagine what Harry must be going through.

When the ambulance hit a particularly deep pot hole they were all thrown unceremoniously from their seats.

“Niall,” Zayn yelled. “You mind maybe avoiding the massive holes in the road?”

“You wanna come up here and drive?” Niall growled at him.

“Maybe I should.”

“What? You don’t think –”

“Guys. Do you want to leave it out?” Liam said, voice tight as he looked at the pained expression on Harry’s face. “Harry, are you –”

He was cut off as they were flung to the front of the cabin. “Niall!” they all shouted in unison as the ambulance came to a sudden stop.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he replied sarcastically. “Would you rather I drive head first into the group of Lollopers baying for our blood?”

“Niall, stop it. Please,” Harry asked.

Niall turned to look over his shoulder. “Right. Sorry. I – Sorry.” He pointed ahead of him. “There are zombies though.”

Liam leaned against the window to get a better view. There were at least thirty Lollopers closing in on the van, yellowing skin and dead, cloudy eyes clear in the bright light.

“Well, this doesn’t look good,” he mumbled.

“Are they close?” Harry asked from the back.

“Um,” Liam’s voice took on a high pitch. “They’re not – I won’t lie, they’re not altogether too far away.”

Niall let out a shocked yell and leaned back in his seat as the group came right up to the ambulance windows, scratching gormlessly at the glass. “Um, what do we do?” Niall asked, making shooing motions at the door.

At that moment the van started to shake from side to side. Liam grabbed hold of the back of the passenger seat to stay upright.

“What’s that?” Harry asked, whipping his head around the cabin.

“Are they pulling the wheel? Why the hell are they doing that? Niall, just drive,” Zayn hurried as he tried to lean over Liam to see outside.

Just as Niall pressed down on the accelerator they heard a loud clunk and the ambulance jutted violently, lurching to one side. Liam sent a nervous look over to the other three before peering back out of the window. He saw the tyre, previously attached to the front of their van, rolling away in the distance, with the Lollopers slowly chasing after it.

“Brilliant.”

“Li? What – They got the wheel, didn’t they?” Zayn said. He sounded like he was beyond caring. They needed to get out of this nightmare.

Liam bit his lip. “They did get the tyre, yes,” he conceded. “On a positive note, though, they don’t seem interested in us anymore,” he said, brightly. His enthusiasm was not infectious. He sighed, “Look, guys. We can see the helipad from here. The way is clear, we might as well just do the last bit on foot. We’ve only got ten minutes until they get here.” He almost added ‘It won’t kill us to walk’ but he thought better of it as he picked up Louis’ hoodie from the floor of the cabin.

“Whatever,” Harry nodded slowly before he stood up, swung open the back doors of the ambulance and stepped outside.

Liam stared, in slight shock, as Harry walked carelessly towards the helipad. People usually weren’t so quick to act on his suggestions. Zayn and Niall quickly followed Harry outside and Liam found himself having to jog to catch up with them.

He tied Louis’ hoodie around his waist as they walked closer to the landing sight and he felt Harry’s eyes on him, boring into his back. A sudden, unwelcome thought hit him as he pictured the Lollopers that had attacked the van. _What if Louis’ became one of them?_ He didn’t know how it worked. What if that’s how you became infected?

“We should’ve burned him,” he whispered to himself.

“What’s that?” Niall asked.

Liam snapped his head, “Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud.” He felt his stomach lurch. Chancing a look at Harry, he saw the other boy staring back at him, eyes crinkled in thought. 

~

_We’re holding the helicopter to give the remaining boys more time to think things through._

_~_

They reached the helipad with minutes to spare. Liam immediately dropped to the ground in the centre of the concrete circle. The others sat down around him, all of them keeping one eye on the horizon and the other to the sky.

It didn’t go quite a smoothly as Liam had been hoping.

“It should’ve been here 20 minutes ago,” Niall groaned, lying flat on the ground, head buried in the crook of his elbow.

“Patience, young Padawan,” Liam said, poking Niall gently on the arm. “They’ll be here. They’re just a bit late.” He prayed that the panic he was feeling inside didn’t show in his voice. If the helicopter didn’t turn up, he didn’t know what they’d do. He sighed, lying down on the ground and lifting his arm in the air to shield his eyes from the sun. “I can’t wait to see my family.”

“It’s like a second chance, isn’t it?” Zayn said, eyes scrunched up against the sun. “To get everything right that you cocked up before.”

Liam turned his head, “What did you cock up before? You haven’t cocked anything up.”

Zayn shrugged, drawing patterns in the dust on the ground. “I feel like I was just wasting everything, you know. Like,” he shook his head. “The life we lead, it’s amazing. It’s amazing, and I was just stumbling through it, eyes shut.” He turned to look in the distance. “I mean, Louis, he was – And now –” He let out a frustrated growl, running a hand across his face.

Niall’s voice was soft when he said, “It’s in the past.”

“Right,” Harry said. Liam turned to see an exhausted but determined expression on his face. His voice was rough from disuse as he said, “I’m not going to waste any more opportunities. Live every day like your last.”

Liam lifted himself up on his elbows, about to respond when he saw several limping figures in the distance. He groaned, “Oh, for pity’s sake. Don’t these things have anything else to do?”

Harry followed his gaze. “Oh no, not again. This isn’t fair. This isn’t fair!” he yelled into the open air.

They all stumbled to their feet and shuffled close together. Liam held tightly onto Harry’s rucksack with one hand and grabbed Niall’s jacket sleeve with the other. They were so close, _so close,_ to rescue.

The group of Lollopers were advancing towards them at an alarming rate, spreading out around them. Liam could hear the heavy breathing of this friends by his side.

“What do we do?” Zayn asked, breathlessly.

Liam shook his head. He was out of ideas. Beyond getting in the helicopter and getting to safety, he didn’t have a plan. He bit his lip hard, tasting the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, I can’t think.”

He heard someone whimper behind him and they all began to shuffle backwards, away from the encroaching zombies.

“Hey.” Liam felt Zayn tugging on his arm. “Hey, guys, listen.” He looked to see Zayn standing stock still, face deep in concentration. “Can you hear it? I think – Is that the helicopter?”

“Where?” Niall immediately turned his head up, shielding his eyes.

Liam froze, willing his heart to stop beating so loudly. He blinked several times, eyes searching the sky, silently praying Zayn was right.

“I can hear it, I can hear it,” Harry said, excitedly.

At last, _at last_ , Liam saw a dark spot in the sky. He pointed, “It’s there! It’s coming. We’re going to be alright!” As he spoke the spot got bigger and bigger, clearer and clearer. Eyeing the Lollopers still gathering around them he said, “Just, everyone, slowly, yeah? We need to get some space between us and them for the helicopter to land.”

As the helicopter approached, they tried to get as far away from the group of zombies as possible. The noise of the helicopter, however, seemed to agitate them. They began emitting load moans, twitching their limbs erratically. Liam was reminded of the infected man he and Harry had seen in the hospital.

They watched, walking slowly and deliberately, as the helicopter hovered just above the ground about forty metres away. Liam could see someone at the door of the helicopter beckoning them forward. They were practically there, he could almost taste it. “Guys, maybe hurry it up,” he said, giving the ever more agitated Lollopers on either side of them the once over.

They began to walk faster. Liam was at the head of the group, eyes focused ahead. The infected around them were close enough now that he could look them in the eye. His heart was pounding frantically, fingers tingling.

He heard a yell behind him and Harry shout, “Guys, Niall!”

He spun on the spot to see Niall on the floor, Lollopers heading towards him.

“Get him,” Zayn yelled and all three of them ran to him as he struggled to stand.

It came about so quickly, Liam didn’t even realise what was happening until he felt the powerful downdraft of the helicopter blades blow his jacket collar into his face. They turned to see their only means of escape rising slowly into the sky.

“No!” Harry shouted over the loud moans of the zombies around them.

“You guys go,” Niall panted, pointing at the relatively open space between Harry, Liam, Zayn and the departing helicopter.

Zayn shook his head, saying determinedly, “We can’t lose you too.”

“All for one?” Harry grinned, madly.

Zayn sucked his lips, “I don’t care if we’re about to die, there’s no way I’m finishing that sentence.”

Liam clapped the two of them on the shoulder as they pulled Niall up, away from the outreached hands of the zombies. He pushed past the mass of bodies, towards the helicopter. “No,” he yelled. “For fuck’s sake. Just wait. Wait! Damn you!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs, waving his arms in the air, zombie attack be damned. “Come back. Please.” He bit his lip to stop himself from screaming as he saw the co-pilot shake his head and make a crossing motion with his arms.

_Too dangerous._

“They’re leaving,” Liam breathed, disbelieving. “They’re leaving us.”

They were all standing in shock, staring as the helicopter flew away from them. Liam let out a humourless laugh as he watched the zombies turn, following the sound the helicopter made, staggering their way back into the trees. Two minutes later they were alone in the field once more.

Deserted.

Abandoned.

Doomed.

~

_In order to stay together, the members of One Direction have sacrificed their chance of escape. During their journey through this post-apocalyptic world they’ve shown the qualities of courage, compassion, leadership and responsibility. But have they learnt the second lesson of this experience? To value and desire the family and life that they already have? We’re about to find out._

~

Niall slumped down onto the ground, falling on to all fours and panting heavily as the helicopter vanished into a small speck in the blue sky.

That was it then. He was never going to see his family again. There was no way out of this. His mum, his dad, his brother, _his little nephew_ , all gone. He lowered his head to the floor and blindly reached his hand out to grip around one of the boys’ wrists.

He heard Zayn’s voice from close by. “My sisters,” he said. He sounded more upset then he had done since all this madness started. “Oh, please let them be okay.”

Niall closed his eyes.

“They’ll be alright, Zayn,” Harry replied. He gripped Niall’s wrist in return. “They’ll all be at one of the secure zones. They were in the city, right? So the army will have been all over them, getting them to safety. Like my mum and Gem. Robin will have made sure they got out.”

If Niall concentrated he could imagine that Harry was right. He could see all their families, safe inside a fenced off facility. It was green and fresh. Maybe with a stream. Dogs running around. Kids laughing.

Liam croaked above him. “I was supposed to go to the pub with my dad. He wanted to have a drink with me, I kept putting it off.” He sat on the floor, bringing his hands to his head. “I couldn’t even give him half an hour of my time.”

“Liam,” Niall said. “Everyone knows you love your dad. He knows that, you know that he knows. We just –” He groaned, dragging his hands across his face. “We just got distracted by all the, you know, the shiny stuff.”

Harry sighed, “Shiny stuff.”

“We have to move,” Liam said. Niall groaned. “We can’t stay lying on this helipad. Let’s walk.”

They all slowly clambered to their feet. “Where are we even going to walk to?” Harry asked, rubbing at his eyes wearily.

“Secure Zone E,” Liam sighed, hiking his rucksack onto his back. “If we can’t fly there, we’ll walk there. We’ll get there in the end.”

Niall was sure he wasn’t the only one that heard the surrender in Liam’s voice but nobody mentioned it. They all moved off, dragging their feet slowly along the worn grass.

“It’s strange, really,” Zayn said after a few moments, squinting up at the sun. “It’s such a nice day.”

They all turned to face Harry when he asked, voice like gravel, “What’s the date?”

Niall looked over the Liam, automatically. “Um,” the other replied, “If we were out for two weeks, I think that makes it Friday. So, er, maybe,” he looked up to the sky, “The twenty ninth?”

Harry nodded, saying quietly, “Right, Friday the twenty ninth of August two thousand and fourteen.” None of them asked why he wanted to know. They were all fixing it in their memories, as if they’d ever forget. Niall bit his lip. It was the day he let Louis die. The day he doomed his friends to death along with him.

After walking for maybe another thirty metres, they all stopped in their tracks. In the silence, Niall heard a phone ring, shrill and alien. It was definitely a phone. They all turned on the spot, trying to find the source of the noise before Zayn walked over to the side of the worn path.

They watched as he crouched down and picked up an old mobile, still ringing in his open palm. He looked over to them.

“Well, answer it then,” Niall encouraged. For a wild moment he felt sure it had to be the helicopter crew, coming back for them.

Zayn paused for a second before hesitantly walking over to them and pressing answer. He pushed the loudspeaker button so they could all listen in, gathered around the device.

“H – Hello?” Zayn asked, his voice unobtrusive but loud against the back drop of birdsong.

Niall, however, never heard what the person on the other end of the line had to say as at that very moment he collapsed, unconscious body crashing onto the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

_This is the final chapter of ‘Apocalypse’. Let’s find out what the boys have learnt._

~

Zayn’s eyes shot open and his heart was hammering in his chest. He felt a strong sense of déjà vu as he saw Niall’s head resting against his shoulder. His narrowly contained panic subsided quickly, though, when he recognised where he was. This was Louis’ house.

He frowned, sitting up. Yes, he thought, it was definitely the guest bedroom at Louis’. He’d woken up in this bed many times before.

As the other lads woke up around him, he saw similar expressions of panic, relief and confusion travel across their faces. Liam and Harry were sitting up slowly on the small sofa opposite the bed. There was a moment when they all just looked at each other and Zayn knew none of them wanted to be the first person to speak, in case it burst the bubble of safety they’d woken up to.

Liam laughed, breaking the tension and jumped over to join Zayn and Niall on the bed, Harry at his heels.

He looked over to where Liam was running a hand over his face. He looked about as tired as Zayn felt. He shook his head, “Was it a dream?”

Niall laughed from where he was curled up around Harry’s side, “Can’t all have had the same dream, you idiot.” He pushed himself back into the headboard, staring at them all with wide eyes, “You _idiots_. You stayed behind for me.” Zayn thinned his lips as he watched Niall’s face crumple. “You’re all absolute idiots –” he cried.

Harry buried his hand in Niall’s hair, holding on tight. He looked over to Zayn. Zayn was caught off guard when he saw the nervous expression plastered on Harry’s face. “Where’s Louis?” he asked, voice small.

Zayn blinked, the short lived bliss he felt from simply realising that they were alive vanishing. “We’re in his house, he must be okay,” he said, more confidently than he felt.

Harry nodded as Liam stood up, “Let’s go and find him then.” They all shuffled into the landing, socked feet quiet on the carpet. Liam mumbled as they descended the stairs, “If we’re alright then he should be alright. It makes sense.”

They paused in the hallway, not sure where to go first. Zayn took a breath and swung open the door to the living room, mentally praying that there weren’t any Lollopers behind it.

When they all walked over the threshold, huddled together, Zayn stopped short at the sight that greeted them.

“Fucking – No. _No._ ” He covered his face with his hands. Derren Brown. _Derren bastarding Brown_ was standing in Louis’ living room, smile spread across his face, arms open wide.

No, no, no.

He wanted to cry, he’d never been so relieved in all his life. He felt as though he was floating away as he turned around and leant his head down onto Liam’s neck. _The world hadn’t ended. It was a trick. Louis had been right, it was all a trick_. _Everything was going to be okay._

Niall’s cackling laughter was filling the room while Zayn watched Harry pace behind Liam, hands pressed against his eyes. He could feel Liam’s wide smile against his ear.

“You bastard. I can’t believe – You actual bastard,” Liam said, relief plain in his voice.

Zayn turned back around to face Derren. “Seriously, man,” he croaked. His emotions were all over the place. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy and so angry at the same time before. He fought hard to keep his eyes dry as Harry crouched on the floor next to him, clearly overwhelmed.

Derren looked over all of them, eyes crinkling, “Oh, my goodness. Guys, I’m –” He stopped and reached his arms out, gesturing for them all to come over to him. “Come here.”

Zayn didn’t need to be told twice. He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around the man he’d only just met. He felt three other bodies crowd around him, soft, hesitant laughter tickling his skin.

When they broke apart Harry, Liam and Niall stayed close to his side. Derren bit his lip. “Before I explain anything,” he said, apologetic grin masking his features. “Because I promise I will –”

“Damn straight you will,” Niall murmured, still in shock.

Derren nodded his head, “I want to bring someone back.” He clapped his hands, facing towards the door at the far end of the room. Zayn couldn’t keep the massive grin off his face as he watched Louis – a very much alive looking Louis – walk in to the room.

~

Harry’s breath caught in his chest. He’d known, objectively, ever since they’d woken up in Louis’ house and Derren Brown had turned up in the living room that Louis was alive, but his brain couldn’t quite process it.

Louis smiled at them all from across the room, giving them an uncharacteristically shy wave with a small shrug of his shoulders.

“Louis,” Harry’s voice cracked, sounding ridiculous even to himself.

“Alright, Hazza?” Louis said, voice mild and questioning. _Oh God_. He’d missed that voice.

Harry whimpered and let tears fall freely down his face. He couldn’t help it. He loved him. He adored him. The boy was his everything. He tumbled over to where Louis stood with an unsure expression on his face and gracelessly engulfed him in a powerful embrace.

Louis muttered, breath hot in Harry’s ear, “Harry. I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Not at the start, I promise. I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d be so upset.”

“You didn’t think I’d – Jesus.” Harry interrupted, baffled. He pulled back so he could press their foreheads together, noses brushing. “Of course I was upset. You’re my best friend, you twat.”

Louis nodded weakly and smiled as he brought his hands to cup Harry’s jaw. They stayed like that for several beats until they were ambushed by the other three.

Niall managed to get Louis to himself and Harry, Liam and Zayn all smiled fondly as he trapped Louis in his arms. “Mate, I’m so glad to see you. I’m so fucking sorry, I got you killed, Jesus.”

Louis laughed as Niall grabbed his face, pressing kisses onto his head. “You didn’t get me killed, Nialler. Don’t be ridiculous. You didn’t do anything.” 

They stayed tangled together for a while, giving Harry a chance to surreptitiously dry his eyes on his sleeve, before Derren coughed from the corner. They looked over to see him sitting on the sofa, smiling openly and went to join him. If anyone noticed Harry leading Louis to sit next to him, arm around his waist, nobody mentioned it.

“Now, guys,” Derren started. “The dream that you all had?”

They all nodded, although Harry was sure that none of them thought it was a dream still.

Derren bit his lip, “It wasn’t a shared dream, it did happen, but it was – it was set up.” He squeezed Louis’ shoulder gently, “Louis was not a part of that set up, he knew as much as the rest of you.” Harry smiled as he watched Liam shake his head, smile on his face, hidden behind his hands.

“It was all for a good reason,” Derren said, causing Zayn to huff good-naturedly. “You’ve all learnt a huge amount.” Tell me about it, Harry thought. “A lot of things have changed in you. And the point of it, _every second of it_ , was to let you _find_ those changes.” 

Derren looked to each of them, earnestly, as he said, “It’s still you, it’s just the best possible you.” He smiled, “You feel good?”

Harry thought about it, pulling Louis a little closer to him. He did feel good. Underneath the shock, he felt like he’d won the lottery or something. Like Christmas had come early. Like he’d got his life back.

“Feels great,” Niall said from his seat on the floor. He sounded surprised by his own words. 

Liam spoke up, “Yeah, I mean, I feel exhausted. Emotionally and physically exhausted, to be honest, but, like, really good as well.”

“Right, like when you wake up thinking it’s Monday but then realise it’s Sunday. But, like, so much better,” Niall laughed.

“But why did Louis –” Harry started, stopping when everyone turned to him. He shifted, “Why did he have to leave?” Although Louis was fine, he could feel him pressed to his side, he couldn’t bring himself to say ‘die’. Louis squeezed Harry’s knee reassuringly.

Derren lifted his hands in defeat, grimacing. “He’s too clever for his own good, or maybe too cynical, would be more apt,” he said.

“Oh, don’t say that with him right there,” Zayn joked, smiling over at Louis. “His ego will explode.”

“Hey!” Louis said in mock-anger.

Harry smiled into Louis’ shoulder as Derren continued, “He was getting a little too close to the truth for comfort so we needed to bring him out. It wasn’t part of the original plan and, I can assure you, he was not impressed.” Harry smiled at the thought of Louis giving Derren hell.

Louis folded his arms, looking smug, “I was right. I told you it wasn’t real. You never listen.”

“You did tell us,” Harry agreed, hand holding tight to Louis’ side. He couldn’t go back to just being friends with Louis, he knew. This was a new start for them. He needed Louis. There was no way he could be the best possible version himself without Louis’ support.

Derren clapped his hands, “Right. Time for some family reunions!”

~

_“We all thought it was a dream, just like a really intense dream. The one thing we wanted to do was just go and see our families. Like, and the crew and that. And find out what the hell had happened to Louis. When we saw him, it was just, like, the biggest relief. We just wanted to hug him and not ever let him go. We’ve never been so relieved and happy, ever. Seeing Derren, it was a different kind of relief. Just knowing that it was real, that it did happen. That, you know, the emotions that we’d all felt were real. It was reassuring. We’ve never felt so much love for each other.”_

~

Six months later, when the programme was finally broadcast, Harry was ‘round Louis’ house again, watching it curled up with him on the sofa.

“I’m glad you’re alive,” he whispered into the shell of Louis’ ear, as the credits rolled.

Louis blinked over to him, the special, fond expression Harry knew was just for him lighting up his face, “Me too.”

He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, holding him tight, “I’ll never let you go again.”

Louis twined their fingers together. “I’d like to see you try.”

Harry pressed his lips to Louis’, warm and soft and gentle. This was all he’d ever need. Forget fame, forget money and forget international success. After all that ended, he’d just need his friends, his family and Louis, safe and sound by his side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of this fandom isn’t British, so may not be aware of Derren Brown. The man is amazing; he is my hero. This ‘experiment’ actually happened, you can watch it online. It was only with one guy though and it wasn’t _exactly_ the same but check it out anyway (some of the things I’ve included are a little cruel for main stream entertainment). He constantly and consistently blows my mind.


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